The competition in New Zealand is very, very intense, so we've seen a fair bit of margin compression and also the quality of its book in New Zealand has actually deteriorated as well.

The commentary that went with the results was encouraging and suggested things were reasonably buoyant and the imbalance between supply and demand still remains.

It has certainly thrown a spanner in the works from their (News Corp.'s) perspective and it is something that needs to be taken reasonably seriously,

In his role as a chief executive, he should have been aware of what's been happening. With his departure there's a greater chance that the company will not lose its monopoly position.

They'll have to do a bit more work on price.

New Zealand is a real problem and the quality of the result has been brought under question,

It's an extremely profitable business model. They have carved out a very good niche, being among the first to identify infrastructure investments such as toll roads.

It's hard to see where the future of Telstra's business lies, ... Its ongoing battle with the government isn't inspiring shareholders either.

It's hard to see where the future of Telstra's business lies. Its ongoing battle with the government isn't inspiring shareholders either.

It's a case of traders taking their bids off the board until the situation becomes clearer. Investors would rather buy stocks a bit later when there's a touch more certainty about the seriousness of the threat.