Shareholders to reap benefit of Swisscom income rise

Swiss telecommunications group Swisscom has reported a 90.4% rise in net income and will return SFr2.9bn (€1.87bn) to shareholders.

The company decided to return some of its cash pile because of encouraging signs that the recent recovery in the telecoms sector is set to continue.

The pay-out will comprise a dividend of SFr13 (€8.37) per share and up to SFr2bn (€1.29bn) for a share buy-back.

This follows long-running speculation over how the cash-rich group planned to distribute funds.

The company also reported a considerable rise in net profits for the year of SFr1.57bn ( €1.01bn).

Swisscom also reiterated that it was interested in taking a stake in Telekom Austria despite initial talks faltering last year.

Telekom Austria launched its own share buy-back today for up to €270m, as it announced a 10-fold increase in net profits from €12.8m to €134.20m.