Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Telstra Corp., Australia's largest phone company, hired Westpac Banking Corp. to help it borrow A$1 billion ($685 million) that it will use to refinance debt, according to a person familiar with the plan.

Westpac asked banks to commit A$250 million each to Melbourne-based Telstra's three-year loan, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the information isn't public.

Telstra on Nov. 6 said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization will probably rise as much as 7 percent in the 12 months ending June 30 on growth from its mobile and Internet units. The company is three years into a five-year plan to raise profit by cutting jobs, and has said it will invest more than A$10 billion in network upgrades to counter falling revenue from fixed-line operations.

Telstra in September borrowed A$435 million in a three-year loan paying interest of 105 basis points more than the Australian bank bill swap rate, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The company has A$15.8 billion of loans and bonds outstanding, the data show.

Telstra spokeswoman Kathryn McFarlane said she couldn't immediately comment. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Pan in Hong Kong at Apan8@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 10, 2008 03:13 EST