Telstra chief hopes for retail offering this year

BEIJING - Telstra, Australia's biggest telephone company, hopes to reach an agreement allowing a retail offering of the Government's A$25 billion ($30.5 billion) stake this year, chief executive Sol Trujillo said yesterday.

"All of us at Telstra, the regulator and the Government, we're are all trying to find a way to make it happen given the short amount of time that's left," Trujillo told reporters after speaking at a conference in Beijing.

Finance Minister Nick Minchin this week said the Government may scrap the retail offering from the sale due to a dispute between the former Government monopoly and the competition regulator. The Government may instead sell shares to institutions or shift its 51.8 per cent stake in Telstra into a state-run investment fund.

Telstra's share price has slumped 25 per cent the past year after Trujillo cut earnings forecasts and warned that the burden of complying with regulations is destroying the Melbourne-based company's value.

Prime Minister John Howard and senior ministers are scheduled to make a formal decision on whether to proceed with the retail sale in the next month.

"There are some logistical timeframes that have to be met if it's to be completed this year," Trujillo said. The Government is "still interested in getting it done", he said.

Howard last week said he won't be blackmailed after Trujillo repeated warnings that rules prevent Telstra investing in a new fibre-optic network.

- BLOOMBERG