OTE Telecom plans increased shareholder payout amidst revenue growth

OTE Telecom will raise its shareholders payout by 5% this year as it targets cost savings and revenue growth helped by ongoing infrastructure upgrades, Greece’s biggest telecoms operator said on Thursday.

Majority owned and managed by Deutsche Telecom, OTE expects to generate free cash flow of about 470 million euros ($511 million) this year and will raise its payout ratio to shareholders to about 95% from 85%.

The company, which has been investing heavily in fast broadband services and its 5G network, posted a 21% rise in fourth-quarter profit to 141 million euros on revenue up 5% to 930 million as fixed operations return to growth.

It proposed a dividend per share of 0.71 euro, up 23% from last year.

It said it expects further growth this year as enhancing initiatives bear fruit, while it plans to cut personnel expenses to partly offset higher energy costs. Reuters