Wellington, Aug 12 NZPA - TelstraClear Ltd has posted a 1.3 percent fall in annual profit and has decreased its capital expenditure by 8.3 percent, according to parent Telstra Corp Ltd, which reported its results in Australia today.

TelstraClear's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation on a standalone basis were $NZ157 million in the year to June 30, compared to $NZ159 million in the same period last year.

Telstra's group net profit fell 4.7 percent to $A3.88 billion ($NZ4.9 billion).

Total income fell 1.4 percent to $NZ693 million in New Zealand. Capital expenditure fell 8.3 percent to $NZ88 million. The margin on sales revenue was little changed at 23.6 percent.

In Australian dollar terms, the total income in New Zealand was down 3.1 percent and earnings were down 2.8 percent.

Telstra, which is run by New Zealander David Thodey, said its New Zealand business was operating in a difficult economic environment.

Growth in the business market has been challenging and this had been offset by higher revenues from the consumer segment.

Overall, consumer revenue grew by 8.1 percent with both on-net and offnet services increasing year on year.

The consumer hybrid fibre coaxial cable network in Wellington and Christchurch continues to be a strong source of growth, with recent investment made to deliver superior speeds on this network.

Further access had been provided by unbundling the local loop in off-net areas, with over 60 exchanges completed during the year.

Operating expenses decreased 1.5 percent. This was managed through tight cost control partially offset by an increase in bad and doubtful debts impacted by the slow economic climate.

Mr Thodey earned $A3.19m in the year, down from $A3.5m last year.