TPG Telecom's chairman says the company's shares have been hurt by the rollout of the national broadband network, but he expects the telco's new mobile network to benefit shareholders in the long term.
In a speech at the company's annual general meeting on Wednesday, chairman David Teoh said the building of the NBN had weighed on the company's share price over the past year as customers migrate from its cable network over to the national broadband service.
TPG shares have slid about nine per cent since this time last year and about 41 per cent over the past two years.
However, on Wednesday, they were up 1.33 per cent at $6.11, at 1343 AEDT.
Mr Teoh reassured shareholders at the AGM that TPG was "uniquely positioned" to leverage the infrastructure and customer bases it had built, including developing its own mobile network, to drive the next phase of growth and deliver value to its shareholders.
"Your directors are all shareholders in the company and each of us is, of course, disappointed about the margin headwinds that the group is facing as a result of the building of the NBN network, and the consequential decline in the company's share price over the past year," he said.
"This year has seen us take the initial transformational steps for the next stage of TPG's growth and I am tremendously excited about the opportunities that our mobile projects offer to our group."
TPG's $1.9 billion mobile phone network, announced in April, is aimed at increasing control of its infrastructure in Australia and Singapore, and targets a highly competitive market dominated by big-name telcos Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.
Mr Teoh insists there is "plenty of room for everyone" adding that TPG does not plan on taking the spot of third-place rival Vodafone.
"We are not greedy," he said after Wednesday's AGM.
Mr Teoh said the company was looking into certain investment opportunities - like the Internet of Things space - which could be integrated with TPG's fixed mobile network to differentiate the business from the competition.
"The industry is very competitive, margins are very low and everyone is facing the same problems. So... we are moving forward to other areas.
"I have to plan the group for the future. We have to make sure that what we do in the next five to 10 years benefits our company and shareholders."
TPG also reiterated it expects full-year earnings guidance to fall to between $800 million and $815 million.
