New Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin says the financial impact of COVID-19 has not altered her plans for the country's second-largest telco, which reported a sharp decline in first-half profit, and the company will increase its investment in the business in the next year.

As well as pandemic-related impacts, including a drop in highly profitable global roaming services and fewer equipment sales as customers held onto handsets for longer, the profitability of the SingTel-owned subsidiary was hit – as expected – by lower-margin NBN customers and lower NBN migration.