TPG Telecom has posted a first-half net profit of just under $200 million — 11 per cent lower than last year's figure.
It reported pre-tax earnings of $418 million for the six months ended January 2018, which is a $55 million decrease compared to last year.
In a statement to the market, TPG said it experienced "significant headwinds" which include the transitioning of customers to "lower margin NBN services".
The company also said it faced higher electricity prices and "loss of gross profit from home services as customers migrate to NBN bundled services".
The telco will pay its shareholders a fully-franked interim dividend of 2 cents per share — which is a quarter of last year's dividend of 8 cents.
TPG flagged this dividend reduction last year during the release of its full-year results (for the 2016-17 financial year), as it seeks to improve its mobile networks in Australia and Singapore.
The company said this expansion "continues to progress well".
"The projected capital expenditure on both projects remains in line with original forecasts.
"Small cell deployment in Australia is well underway with sites already installed in Sydney and Melbourne," TPG said in a statement.
TPG has upgraded its guidance for underlying pre-tax earnings (which removes the impact of substantial one-off transactions) to a range between $825-$830 million.
Its previous forecast was $800-$815 million.
Shares in TPG fell 2.8 per cent to $5.87 at 12:10pm (AEDT).
