Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- Telstra Corporation (TLS) has pledged to hire 1000 new staff and suspend payment fees for small businesses in a bid to support the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic
- The new staff will work on temporary contracts to help manage call centre volumes
- Telstra will also spend $500 million on projects throughout the year to inject much-needed capital into the Australian economy
- On top of that, the telco giant will also stem further job reductions
- CEO Andrew Penn said it’s times like these that big business can show leadership and make a contribution to the national response
- Telstra will continue to pay its interim dividend next week
- On the market this morning, Telstra is down 2.91 per cent and is trading at $3.18 per share
Telstra Corporation (TLS) has pledged to hire 1,000 temporary contractors and will suspend payment fees for businesses to help support the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The telco giant will also forward $500 million in capital expenditure and stem further job reductions over the next six months.
“We are looking at every aspect of our business to see what we can do for our employees, customers, suppliers and the economy more broadly, while we maintain a focus on long term value creation,” CEO Andrew Penn said.
“While it is critical we maintain a strong position, we also believe there are a range of additional initiatives we can undertake now to help support the broader economy,” he added.
Andrew said telecommunications played a critical role in all aspects of people’s lives and the economy. According to the Telstra CEO, this point has been clearly demonstrated in the current environment as a result of the restrictions arising from COVID-19.
“COVID-19 is having a profound impact on business across the country. At Telstra, we already have more than 25,000 people successfully working from home, and we are supporting many of our customers as they grapple with shifting to working and studying from home,” Andy told the market.
Telstra says it will continue to pay its interim dividend next week, distributing $951 million to shareholders.
“It is at times like these that big business can show leadership and make a contribution to the national response and that is what we at Telstra are doing.”
Andrew Penn- Telstra CEO
The company did not cancel its guidance for 2020, but said growth in the underlying earnings before, interest, tax and depreciation and amortisation was now expected to be in the lower end of the previous range of nil to $500 million.
Andrew said he knows there will likely be more impacts for Telstra from a financial perspective through this unprecedented period.
“In the meantime, it is in all of our interests to do whatever we can to collectively come through this unprecedented national challenge as well as we can,” he said.
On the market this morning, Telstra is down 2.91 per cent and is trading at $3.18 per share at 11:49 am AEDT.
