/ 4 July 1997

Telkom profits up 61%

FRIDAY, 1.00PM

Telecoms parastatal Telkom on Thursday posted a 61,3% rise in attributable profit to R1,95-billion for the year to end March, which translated to earnings a share of 50c.

Chairman Dikgang Moseneke said the rose in profits was the first tangible result of the company’s transformation programme, which led to tighter cost controls and more efficient operations, leading to 23% revenue growth to R16,3-billion.

Telkom installed 256 000 new lines last year, which led to increased revenue through higher traffic per line. The earnings increase was achieved despite cable theft, which cost the company R230-million, and R450-million lost to fraud. Bad debts were kept to below 2% of revenue.

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