Telstra has trimmed its full-year earnings guidance range because a lower than expected number of NBN customers are available for connection.
The communications giant on Thursday said income will be $300 million lower than previously expected because the national broadband network’s corporate plan includes fewer than predicted premises declared ready for service.
As a result, Telstra has trimmed its earnings guidance excluding restructuring costs to between $8.7 billion and $9.4 billion from between $8.8 billion and $9.5 billion.
However, Telstra shares closed 10 cents, or 3.3 per cent higher, at $3.12.
Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn wrote in a letter to shareholders in August that the rollout of the NBN has had an “enormous impact on our business”.
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“Wholesale prices have risen, meaning we and other industry participants are facing a fixed-line market where reseller margins are rapidly reducing,” he said.
The company announced in June it would be slashing a quarter of its workforce, selling off $2 billion in assets and break off its fixed network infrastructure as a new business as part of a strategy to slash costs and improve customer experience.
But Telstra on Thursday hired a new group executive of product and technology, bringing on board Deutsche Telekom’s chief product and innovation officer.
Christian von Reventlow will join the company on November 1.
