Telecom ekes out gain in 1H underlying earnings as mobile props up dwindling sales

Telecom ekes out gain in 1H underlying earnings as mobile props up dwindling sales
By Paul McBeth Feb. 22 (BusinessDesk) - Telecom Corp, the country's biggest phone company, eked out a 3.7 percent lift in first-half underlying earnings as revenue from its mobile business propped up otherwise disappointing sales. Stripping out one-off items from the Chorus demerger a year earlier, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to $506 million in in the six months ended Dec. 31 from $488 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Telecom's sales fell 8.5 percent to $2....