By Stuart Condie
SYDNEY–TPG Telecom Ltd. shares are on course for their biggest one-day fall since the Covid-19 pandemic first hit global equity markets, with investors apparently unsettled by lower-than-expected first-half earnings.
The Australian telecommunications provider on Friday reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the six months through June of 837 million Australian dollars (US$578.8 million). The average analyst forecast was for Ebitda of A$895 million, according to data compiled by FactSet.
The stock was last trading 11% lower at A$5.91, making it the worst-performing component of Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index. The last time it fell that much was in March 2020.
Ord Minnett analysts said that the result will likely lead to the market downgrading its annual Ebitda expectations for the company. The current average forecast is for FY 2022 Ebitda of A$1.85 billion, up 7.0% from a year earlier, according to data compiled by FactSet.
TPG’s net addition of 135,000 mobile users compared favorably with Ord Minnett’s forecast of 118,000, but its analysts noted that only 22,000 came from post-paid subscriptions.
Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 18, 2022 21:31 ET (01:31 GMT)
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Read More: TPG Telecom Shares Tumble After Softer-Than-Expected First-Half Earnings