Telstra is pleased with how the current leadership of Foxtel Group has transformed the media company but would consider selling its roughly one-third stake in the business if the price is right.
Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady told reporters on Thursday that any transaction involving Foxtel was in its early stages and no decision to sell had been made.
"But from our point of view, if it got to the stage where there was an offer for Foxtel at the right level of value, then yes, we would be supportive of that with News Corp," Ms Brady said as Telstra announced its full-year profit had dropped 12.8 per cent to $1.8 billion.
News Corp on Friday flagged that it was reviewing its options for Foxtel Group with its advisers after receiving an offer to buy the business, reportedly from Los Angeles-based Platinum Equity, which specialises in turnarounds.
Telstra owns a 35 per cent stake in Foxtel and Ms Brady said her company was pleased with the leadership of Foxtel's Patrick Delany, its chief executive since early 2018.
"What's been really pleasing to see how Patrick and the team have really transformed the business over the last few years," she said, citing the growth of Foxtel's sports streaming service that as of June 30 had 1.6 million paid subscribers.
"Kayo (Sports) and the streaming business that now exists there, is such a stark difference to where it was many years ago," Ms Brady said.
Telstra said $715 million in one-off charges related to the slimming down of its struggling fixed enterprise business had led to the drop in its 2023/24 profit.
Without them Telstra's net profit after tax would have grown 7.5 per cent to $2.3 billion.
Telstra in May announced it would cut 2800 jobs, mostly in its enterprise division. Ms Brady said that restructuring was in its final stages and Telstra was confident of achieving its goal of $350 million in cost reduction by the end of this financial year.
Telstra's total income for the 12 months to June 30 was up one per cent to $23.5 billion, and the company gained 560,000 new handheld customers during 2023/24, with mobile services revenue up 5.6 per cent.
Telstra declared a nine cent fully franked per share final dividend, taking its total dividend for the year to 18 cents per share, up 5.9 per cent from last year.
Late Thursday, Telstra shares were up 2.3 per cent to a six-month high of $3.96.
Telstra and Microsoft also this week announced they were partnering to grow Microsoft's AI infrastructure in Australia. Microsoft will use Telstra's ultra-fast Intercity Fibre Network to power more AI capabilities for its customers.
