Telstra Boosts Dividend as First-Half Earnings Rise 5.5%

By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--Telstra raised its dividend by more than analysts had expected after the Australian telecommunications giant lifted its first-half underlying earnings by 5.5%.

Australia's largest telco on Thursday reported underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the six months through December of 4.19 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to about US$2.97 billion.

That compared with A$3.97 billion a year earlier, which was adjusted for one-off items such as divestments and restructuring costs.

Net profit rose by 9.4% to A$1.12 billion and total income grew 0.2% to A$11.85 billion. The average analyst forecast had been for a A$1.10 billion net profit from total income of A$11.82 billion, according to data compiled by Visible Alpha.

Telstra raised its interim dividend to A0.105 a share, from A$0.095 a year ago. That was stronger than most analysts had been expecting, with forecasts split between Telstra holding its dividend or raising it to A$0.10.

Telstra, which in August announced a A$1 billion share buyback on top of the A$750 buyback it completed in June, tightened its guidance range for full-year Ebitda to between A$8.2 billion and A$8.4 billion, excluding lease amortization.

Telstra previously guided for underlying Ebitda of A$8.15 billion and A$8.45 billion.

Its stock is rated either a buy or hold by every analyst monitored by Visible Alpha even after the buybacks helped increase its price by more than 40% since mid 2024.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2026 16:02 ET (21:02 GMT)