TelstraClear, the local subsidiary of Australia's Telstra, made a loss as the Canterbury earthquakes and costs of setting up a call-centre in the Philippines eroded earnings.
The Auckland-based unit made a loss of $5 million in the 12 months ended June 30 on an earnings before interest and tax basis, compared to a profit of $16 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 1.2 per cent to $701 million, while operating expenses rose 6 per cent to $568 million.
Telstra said the increased costs came from the restoration and recovery activity incurred by the Canterbury quakes, and the one-off labour, travel and training costs from shifting about 120 call-centre jobs in Christchurch and Paraparaumu to Manila last year.
It had previously bucked the outsourcing trend in 2007 when it brought IT support back in-house.
The New Zealand unit contributed a A$28 million EBIT loss to Telstra's group earnings of A$5.69 billion. Local sales of A$516 million made up 2.1 per cent of Telstra's A$24.98 billion group sales, which rose 0.7 per cent in the year.
