By Stuart Condie


SYDNEY--Telstra Corp. raised its dividend after the return of international travelers helped to lift mobile revenues and increase fiscal first-half earnings by 11%.

Australia's largest communications provider on Thursday reported underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the six months through December of 3.9 billion Australian dollars (US$2.7 billion), compared with A$3.5 billion a year ago.

Statutory net profit rose by 24% to A$865 million on total income of A$11.58 billion, up 6.4% from a year earlier. The board raised its interim dividend to 8.5 Australian cents per share from 8.0 Australian cents a year ago, bringing the payout in-line with its fiscal 2022 final dividend.

Telstra will seek to grow the dividend over time, Chief Executive Vicki Brady said.

Telstra reiterated its full-year guidance for underlying Ebitda of between A$7.8 billion and A$8.0 billion. It still sees total income of between A$23.0 billion and A$25.0 billion, but said the actual figure would likely be at the lower end of the range due to lower-than-expected hardware sales and fixed-product revenues.

First-half mobile income rose 9.5% to A$5.13 billion as Covid-driven restrictions on movement were relaxed and international tourism picked up. Fixed-line consumer and small-business income was flat at A$2.26 billion.

Operating expenses rose by 4.2% to A$7.72 billion.

"On cost, while inflation is having an impact, we continue to have cost mitigants and revenue levers," said Ms. Vicki Brady, the former chief financial officer who took over from the retiring Andrew Penn in August.

International revenue jumped 51.5% to A$1.148 billion, helped by a $356 million contribution from the Digicel-Pacific business that Telstra acquired in July. Australia's government funded the majority of the purchase in a move that foreign-policy experts said was designed to block a military rival from buying the strategically important assets.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-15-23 1649ET