MILAN, Italy, Feb 13, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Telecom Italia, Italy's largest phone company, said Wednesday that revenue rose more than expected in 2024, boosted by its Brazilian unit, and that it could resume dividends payments next year.

Turnover at the company, whose largest shareholder is France's Vivendi, increased 3.1 percent to 14.5 billion euros ($15 billion) in 2024, beating an analyst consensus of a 2.9-percent increase.

In a statement, TIM cited a "possible return" to paying dividends in 2026, for the first time since 2021, thanks partly to the sale of its Sparkle submarine cable division.

TIM's board of directors earlier Wednesday unanimously approved a 700-million-euro bid by the Italian state for the fibre-optic undersea network, which Rome views as a strategic asset.

"For the third year in a row we fully met the Group guidance, transforming TIM into a more solid and focused company," Chief Executive Pietro Labriola said in a statement.

TIM Brasil, which absorbed the mobile activities of local rival Oi in April 2022, saw its revenue increase 6.8 percent to 4.4 billion euros in 2024.

In Italy's highly competitive market, revenue gained 1.5 percent to 10.2 billion euros.

Adjusted gross operating surplus, or Ebitda, jumped 10.1 percent to 3.7 billion euros, exceeding its eight- to nine-percent target.

TIM said it aims to raise revenue by three percent a year between 2025 and 2027, with a six- to seven-percent increase in operating profit.

Telecom Italia last year sold its fixed network to the American investment fund KKR, the first large European operator to complete such a sale, defying Vivendi, which had tried to oppose it.