Feb 28 (Reuters) - Swiss telecoms provider Sunrise

Communications reported a small rise in its full-year

core profit on Friday, supported by cost management and

continued customer growth of mobile postpaid and internet

subscriptions.

Lease-adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation

and amortisation (EBITDAaL) rose 0.7% on a comparable basis to

1.03 billion Swiss francs ($1.15 billion) in 2024, just below

analysts' forecast of 1.04 billion in a company-provided poll.

The figure has been rebased to exclude inorganic costs

related to Sunrise's November spin-off from Liberty Global ( LBTYA )

.

Sunrise, which had been listed until it was acquired by

Liberty in 2021, has seen rapid growth since then, positioning

itself as the second largest player in the 8.1 billion franc

Swiss telecoms market, only behind state-controlled Swisscom

.

It is now focused on reducing its net debt to enhance its

free cash flow.

Sunrise said it had cut its debt by around 1.5 billion

francs since last September, nearly half its market value of 3.2

billion francs at the time of its re-listing on the Swiss stock

exchange.

Its annual revenue fell by 0.6%, while adjusted free cash

flow grew 2.8%. Capital expenditures, primarily for rolling out

5G infrastructure and enhancing network coverage, declined 5.2%

and equalled 16.9% of revenue.

Net subscription growth was 6% in the mobile postpaid

segment and 2.4% in broadband internet.

"We confirm the 2025 guidance that was given at last year's

Capital Markets Day and we would like to offer shareholders a

progressive dividend," CEO André Krause said in a statement.

The company proposed a total dividend payment of about 240

million francs, or 3.33 francs per share, on the 2024 results.

It expects to pay out a dividend of 3.42 francs per share by

2026, reflecting a targeted payout of up to 70% of its adjusted

free cash flow.

($1 = 0.8991 Swiss francs)