/ 22 June 2009

Telkom’s profit falls

South African fixed-line phone firm Telkom posted a 45,9% fall in full-year headline earnings per share, hit by one-off charges, and said it would be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

Telkom said on Monday its headline EPS for continuing operations dropped to 557 cents per share for the year to end-March, as costs related to impairments of assets and the Vodacom transaction knocked profits.

Telkom spun off Vodacom in May, giving control of the South African cellphone company to British Vodafone.

The company said one-off items, including R177-million expenses related to the Vodacom deal, impacted fixed-line expenditure.

Telkom is the dominant fixed-line phone firm in Africa’s biggest economy, but revenue at its core business is under pressure, especially without earnings driver Vodacom.

Headline EPS, which excludes certain non-trading, capital and extraordinary items, is the key profit measure for South African companies. — Reuters