Telecom has revised its forecast earnings in coming years, compounding months of difficulties with both regulation and operation, and also announced a targeted reduction of 200 management jobs this year.
Telecom shares fell 6c to trade around $2.18 when trading resumed after the company cut earnings guidance for its financial years from 2011 to 2013.
The company said its guidance for the 2010 financial year remained unchanged.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) for its financial 2011 year is cut to between $1.72 billion and $1.78 billion. It had predicted a 4% to 6% rise to between $1.82 billion and $1.86 billion.
The job losses were a measure prompted by weakening revenue.
For the 2012 financial year, the company had been predicting ebitda would rise by $70 million to $110 million. This is now predicted to rise by between $20 million and $80 million.
For the 2013 financial year, ebitda guidance has been cut to a rise of $20 million to $80 million from a rise of between $75 million and $115 million.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms said Craigs had been downgrading Telecom in recent months. The sharebroker had a hold on the company with a target share price of $2.19.
He took issue with Telecom's guidance figures, saying they were very wide and made it difficult to get an accurate picture as to the health of the company.
"It's good to get guidance, but how good is the guidance? You can drive a truck through those figures."
Chief executive Paul Reynolds said the changes to guidance reflected government regulatory decisions, and a softening revenue outlook because of less mobile-revenue growth, price pressures in voice and data markets, effects of the economic downturn, and management initiatives to drive harder on cost-out programmes outlined in May 2009.
