Telstra shares hit their highest price in three months despite the telco’s profits being squeezed by increased competition and the rollout of the NBN.

The company reported today its full-year profits dropped 8.4 per cent to $3.56 billion.

It prompted the telco giant to declare a final dividend of 11 cents per share, down from 15.5 cents a year earlier. A result better than many were expecting.

Chief Executive Andrew Penn tells Ross Greenwood shareholders “[have] had to wear a lot of pain”.

“I’m acutely conscious of the impact of the share price and dividend on them so it is great to see a positive reaction today.”

He says migration to the NBN was always going to change the dynamic of the telco but maintains “we had actually very strong customer growth”.

“Everybody knows the competitive pressure is putting an impact on revenues, it’s putting an impact on margins.

“We’ve not been immune to the odd issue in the network but nonetheless we still have the best network in the country.

“There’s a lot of customers who very much recognise Telstra is the best telecommunications network.”

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