Internet service provider TPG has reported its full year net profits are up 64% year-on-year, from $91 million to $149.2 million, as the telco announces an ambitious plan to build its own fibre to the premises network.
The strong results came as the telco added 76,000 residential customers over the past year, reaching a total of 671,000 subscribers.
The internet giant also announced plans to build an NBN-style fibre to the premises network connecting up to 500,000 apartments across 60 suburbs in the major mainland capital cities.
The Reserve Bank has issued a stern warning about the potential for a property bubble to emerge as a result of record-low interest rates in the minutes of its September meeting.
“In the current environment of low interest rates and slow credit growth, members agreed that it was especially important that banks maintained prudent lending standards,” the minutes said.
“Households continue to show prudence in managing their finances with higher levels of saving and a slower pace in credit growth for some time.
“The continued high rate of excess home loan repayments was consistent with low rates of financial stress among households with mortgages.”
Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew has attacked the former federal government’s economic performance and called on the Reserve Bank to cut official interest rates in order to deliver “CPR” to the ailing retail sector.
“I think that the legacy of the former government and its inept handling of the mining boom at the expense of the non-resource sectors continue to impact on retail,” Lew said.
“Given the employment numbers last week, the continued strength of the Australian dollar and the fragility of consumer confidence, I believe that the Reserve Bank needs to act.”
The comments were made as Premier, which owns Peter Alexander, Smiggle, Just Jeans and Jay Jays, reported a net profit of $69.3 million for the year to July.
Overnight
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.23% to 15529.7. The Aussie dollar is up to US93.59 cents.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
