OTE raises dividend, sticks to fast network investments

ATHENS (Reuters) - OTE Group, Greece's biggest telecoms operator, increased its payout to shareholders this year and said it would continue investing in fast fibre broadband connections to homes and in 5G service to deal with intense competition.

OTE, majority owned and managed by Deutsche Telekom, will pay a dividend of 0.5765 euros per share, up 3.3% on a year earlier. Total return to shareholders, including a share buyback scheme, will come in at 425 million euros, it said.

Under a revised policy beginning in 2023, OTE planned to distribute to its shareholders between 70% and 100% of free cash flow every year, providing macroeconomic conditions remained stable, it said.

OTE expected free cash flow of about 500 million euros this year.

The operator will spend about 640 million euros in 2023, the same as last year, to expand its fibre optic and 5G networks and to further digitise its services, consolidating its leadership in the market, it said.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Bradley Perrett)