Telkom has told shareholders that both headline and basic earnings per share will be at least 20% higher for the first half of the year.
The group, which did not provide a range, says it will publish its results for the six months to September on 18 November. It adds that the numbers in the first half of last year were affected by a provision for a Competition Tribunal fine of R389 million.
In addition, the first half will benefit from lower finance charges and "a review of the underlying assumptions for the determination of post-retirement benefits", it says. The lower finance charges are linked to foreign exchange movements and fair value gains after the rand lost ground against major currencies, it explains.
A year ago, Telkom said its interim results yielded profit before tax of R547 million, which was 48.9% lower than in 2011.
The drop was mostly due to the impact of the provision for the penalty imposed by the Competition Tribunal, higher employee expenses due to annual salary increases and lower fixed-line revenue, partially offset by lower mobile termination rates and no impairment charge.
"Headline earnings from continuing operations declined 80.6%, to 37.2c from 191.7c, in the prior reporting period, largely due to the impact of the provision for the penalty handed down by the competition tribunal," it said last year.
Headline earnings per share, a key measure of performance, were 37.2c, while basic earnings per share were 30.2c.
Telkom says it will publish an update with a more specific range once it has more certainty.
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