South African fixed-line phone company Telkom unveiled a 47.5 percent jump in annual headline earnings per share thanks to cost cuts and strong growth at its Vodacom mobile business. Headline earnings, which strip out one-off, non-trading and capital items, rose to 1,274.1 cents per share in the year to end March, Telkom said in a statement on June 6, towards the top end of a company forecast for a jump of 35-55 percent.
Telkom also said it would pay a total dividend of 900 cents per share, including a special dividend of 500 cents.
The company expects flat or slightly core EBITDA margins in the year ahead as it faces tougher competition in its home market, it said.
Telkom will focus on offering converged services by moving to a predominantly Internet protocol-based network, and aims to become the leading Internet service provider and provider of value-added-network services, the company said.