Revenue also down by 6 per cent to $23.7 billion Telstra has posted another year of tumbling profits as the summer bush fires and COVID-19 pandemic hit its already beleaguered finances. Australia's largest telco closed the financial year ending 30 June 2020 with a net profit after tax of $1.8 billion, a 14-per cent decline year-on-year. At the same time, revenue fell by 6 per cent to $23.7 billion while underlying EBITDA declined by 9.7 per cent to $7.4 billion when the so-called "NBN headwinds"were factored in. According to Telstra, the COVID-19 pandemic has cost the telco $200 million in underlying pre-tax earnings (EBITDA) this year, while the NBN's impact totalled $830 million. "The enormous, ongoing disruption and pain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has made the past few months extraordinarily challenging for everyone," said CEO Andy Penn. "However, we have been thoughtful about the best ways we can make a difference and taken strong and decisive action to support our employees, our customers, and the community." In addition, the company is expecting to spend $44 million across FY20 and FY21 in restoring infrastructure damaged during the bushfires. Excluding the impact of the NBN roll-out, Telstra's EBITDA however increased to $8.9 billion. Broken down, Telstra's revenue declined across network applications and services (NAS), managed network services and industry solutions, the latter of which was expected due to contracts expiring and as a result of the NBN's roll-out. However, growth areas were seen in unified communications, which increased by 5.7 per cent to $1.067 million, while cloud services revenue increased by 0.9 per cent to $434 million. This financial year saw the consolidation of the telco's professional and technical services businesses into a single brand dubbed 'Telstra Purple'. Since then, the business unit has delivered more than 3,000 projects, Telstra claimed. Telstra also continued its cost-cutting strategy, shaving 10 per cent off its operating expenditure this year. Despite bringing on 1,000 new contractors to assist with customer service during the COVID-19 pandemic, Telstra's labour costs still plunged by 23.1 per cent to $4 million, saving $457 million in salaries and costs. This comes despite Telstra freezing its ongoing headcount reduction program due to the coronavirus pandemic. In total, Telstra claimed to have saved $1.8 billion in costs since FY16 and is on track to meet its target of $2.5 billion.in savings by 2022, as part of its T22 strategy. Looking forward, Telstra estimated its total income to be in the range of $23.2 billion to $25.1 billion for the next financial year. It also intends to bring forward $500 million of capital expenditure planned for the second-half of FY21 into calendar year 2020 to accelerate its 5G roll-out. The acceleration will see Telstra 5G coverage reach around 75 per cent of the Australian population by June 2021, the telco claimed. Related content news Regional NSW AI preparation lacking Deficits in infrastructure and education need to be addressed. By Sasha Karen 26 Apr 2024 4 mins Innovation Emerging Technology news IBM to acquire HashiCorp for US$6.4B in hybrid cloud, AI play Close to half of HashiCorp’s voting power, at 43 per cent, has entered into an agreement to approve the deal. By Sasha Karen 26 Apr 2024 2 mins Mergers and Acquisitions Cloud Computing Vendors and Providers news Digital hub reopens in Cremorne The hub previously operated in a “very limited capacity” and could not roll out program and hold industry events prior to the refurbishment. By Sasha Karen 24 Apr 2024 2 mins Business Operations Emerging Technology Industry news HP brings AI PCs to Australia Includes extra processing power for AI workloads. By Sasha Karen 24 Apr 2024 2 mins Emerging Technology Vendors and Providers SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe