(Reuters) -Australian telecom firm Telstra said on Tuesday it would reduce up to 2,800 jobs from its direct workforce by the end of this year, as a part of its proposed measures to simplify operations and reduce costs.
Consultation on 377 of those roles would begin immediately, mainly from areas supporting the products and services to be exited in its enterprise business, Telstra said.
The company expects to record one-off restructuring costs of A$200 million ($133.36 million) to A$250 million in fiscal 2024 and 2025.
Telstra reiterated its earnings forecast for 2024 and said it expects underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization for 2025 between A$8.4 billion and $8.7 billion.
Telstra had first announced a review of its products and services under its enterprise business in February.
It said on Tuesday it had identified a number of actions under the review, which include streamlining its product portfolio and reducing network applications and services products in market by close to two-thirds.
Telstra said it would be updating its customer terms for its postpaid mobile plans to remove the annual CPI-linked review of prices.
“This approach reflects there are a range of factors that go into any pricing decision, and will provide greater flexibility to adjust prices at different times and across different plans based on their value propositions and customer needs,” CEO Vicki Brady said.
Analysts at UBS said the removal of CPI indexation clause in mobile postpaid plans was a “key surprise”, adding that fiscal 2023 forecast suggests company is expecting mobile business to continue to be a driver of growth.
Shares of the company fell as much as 2.7% and posted their biggest intraday drop in more than three months.
($1 = 1.4997 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)