Aussie Broadband eyes Telstra customers as net profit soars

afr.com:

Aussie Broadband managing director Philip Britt has forecast further consolidation and says the telecommunications group is going after Telstra’s customers as annual net profits quadrupled to $21.7 million.

“Every 10 years or so there’s quite a big change in the Australian telco market,” Mr Britt told The Australian Financial Review. “I think we’re going to see another round of change and consolidation as things play out, it’s going to be an interesting time to watch over the next 12 to 18 months.”

Aussie Broadband has signed several new corporate customers and says businesses are tired to Telstra. James Alcock

Aussie Broadband, the nation’s fifth-largest provider of broadband services, lifted its share of the broadband market to 7.6 per cent from 6.5 per cent a year ago and is targeting a market share of 10 per cent by 2025.

“We can see a clear pathway that can get us there,” Mr Britt said.

Shares rose more than 5 per cent in early trading on Friday to $3.27.

While Aussie Broadband is happy to grow organically, it is open to further acquisitions, Mr Britt said. Aussie Broadband is also building out its own fibre network and now has 1426 kilometres of fibre, enabling it to offer more services to business customers like Westpac.

Mr Britt said businesses were “getting a bit tired of Telstra”, adding that Aussie Broadband was considered “a strong alternative” because it uses automated technologies that can deal quickly with changes to services.

The company’s broadband connections rose 18 per cent over the year to 691,172. It has also had a strong start to the current year, with broadband connections rising further to more than 715,000 since the start of July.

Revenues rose in all divisions, including the enterprise and