Telstra has paid its chief executive, Vicki Brady, $۶.۸m for the year ending in June, after docking ۲۰% of her bonus in response to the network’s nationwide outage in July.
The company reported financial results on Thursday. Its board met on Monday and decided to cut Brady’s bonus by $۶۰۷,۰۰۰ – but she still took home a $۷۰۰,۰۰۰ pay rise as she was awarded a total of $۶.۱m the year before.
Telstra has faced heavy political criticism for its handling of the outage, which it has blamed on the lack of a software update on a key time-keeping system. The incident was estimated to have affected almost half of all calls and data sessions on its network before it was traced and repaired.
Brady told investors on Thursday more than ۳۰,۰۰۰ customers had asked for compensation and nearly $۱m had been paid out. The company reported it was still assessing customer claims, and was paying compensation to those who were eligible.
“At this stage regulatory outcomes and any financial implications from this outage are uncertain and cannot be reliably estimated,” the financial report read.
Brady acknowledged the outage in comments to investors on Thursday, saying that Telstra had “let our customers down in July” and had taken full accountability.
“We have an initial understanding of the root cause of the outage and have taken steps to address that,” she said. “We are completing our investigation with an external expert, and we will be transparent about those findings and the actions we take as a result.”
Brady said the company was taking the disruption “extremely seriously” and was committed to giving people clear information and fixing issues as quickly as possible.
Telstra also docked ۲۰% of the bonus for its former global networks group executive, and ۱۰% of all other senior executives, cutting their combined pay by the equivalent of $۱.۳m. The company’s results show senior executives were paid a combined $۲۰.۷m for the year.
Wednesday’s earnings results showed profits rose to $۲.۴bn, from $۲.۳bn the prior year. It paid shareholders a dividend of ۲۱ cents per share.
Telstra has cut costs by cutting jobs: employee numbers fell by ۱,۲۱۹ over the year to a total ۲۹,۳۳۴ by June.
Income from mobile phones rose $۳۰۰m to $۱۱.۳bn, with customers paying an extra ۷.۲% on prepaid handheld plans and an extra ۳.۴% on postpaid handheld plans. The company increased most of its postpaid plans by $۴ a month and prepaid by $۵ a month in May.
Telstra sold ۱m more mobile plans despite rising prices and now has ۲۶m services in operation.
The company’s share price slipped from $۵ to $۴.۸۷۵ in early trading, dragging its market value down by $۱.۴bn to hit $۵۴.۳bn.
