Telecom giant Telstra (ASX:TLS) has signaled a period of aggressive capital management, announcing an expansion of its share buyback program to $1.25 billion following a robust first-half performance.
The telco reported a 9.4% rise in interim net profit to $1.1 billion, underpinned by a disciplined focus on cost reduction despite largely flat revenue growth.
The move bolsters the company’s previous $1 billion buyback initiative for the 2025-26 period, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.
The mobile division remains Telstra's primary engine of growth, contributing $5.7 billion to earnings—a 3.6% increase.
The gain was driven largely by a 4.8% rise in average revenue per user for postpaid plans, which reached $56.22.
While price hikes led to a loss of 88,000 services in operation, the margin expansion proved sufficient to offset the decline in volume.
In contrast, other business segments saw income soften, highlighting the company's reliance on its dominant mobile market share.
The company recorded an increased interim dividend of 10.5 cents per share, up from 9.5 cents last year.
Looking ahead, management tightened its full-year underlying earnings guidance to a range of $8.2 billion to $8.4 billion, narrowing the previous window of $8.15 billion to $8.45 billion.