Optus has posted an operating revenue drop of 5.8 per cent, for which it blames falling NBN payments, along with a slide in equipment sales.

For the year ending March 31, Optus saw EBITDA jump by 3.5 per cent, with EBIT leaped 32 per cent to A$249 million.

Revenue is down from $8.32 billion to $7.38 billion, with operating expenses down 10 per cent.

It added 273,000 new mobile customers, with mobile average revenue per user up 8.1 per cent – a sign of rising plan prices as users chew up more and more data.

“Optus has positive momentum after a tough couple of Covid-impacted years, with strong growth in underlying EBIT across our business,” CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said.

“Product innovation and enhanced customer experience continue to be major Optus strategic differentiators and underpinned our ability to grow our mobile customer base and generate increased mobile ARPU.”

Telstra also blamed waning pay receipts from NBN for its 15 per cent drop in earnings, and a 34 per cent plummet in net profit for the first half of FY22.