Pretoria - Headline earnings for telecommunications parastatal Telkom declined by 33% for the year ended in March.
"Headline earnings per share declined 33% from the previous year, mainly as a result of the investment made in the group's mobile business, 8.ta, and R605 million additional depreciation following a review of the useful life of existing network equipment as investment to transform to a commercially led next generation network continues," it said on Friday.
Telkom's operating revenue decreased by 0.7% to R33.1 billion while operating expenses increased by 6.1% to R31.3 billion.
Profit before tax was R774 million and profit for the year was at R179 million.
The results include a R896 million loss due to the disposal of Multi-Links and a R569 million impairment loss of iWayAfrica's goodwill and assets.
Presenting Telkom's Annual Results in Johannesburg, Group CEO Nombulelo Moholi said the company faced several challenges.
"Telkom faces many challenges at the moment, but we will stay calm, determined and focused on delivering on the promise of our business and our strategy going forward. Over the past year we have focussed extensively on aligning and streamlining the group's strategies and operations in order to better deliver value going forward," said Moholi.
"It has been a difficult year, but one that was necessary for the future stability of the Group," she added.
Fixed-line traffic revenue decreased by 8%.
Telkom said it was committed to the mobile business, although tactics may change from time to time. A core feature of the mobile strategy is to meet the growing data demand in South Africa in a manner that does not lead to cannibalisation of other services.
"We are committed to a journey of significant and deliberate steps to build value for all our stakeholders. We are focused on working to secure our future," said Moholi.
