As we discussed earlier this week, there is something funny going on with Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) shares of late.
Telstra is one of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)'s most famous and dominant blue chip shares. It's also a company the vast majority of Australians would be familiar with.
Since Telstra has been listed on the ASX for more than two decades now, most investors would be familiar with its ticker code 'TLS'.
And yet, the old Telstra that we all know and (maybe) love is looking a little different this week.
For one, requesting a price quote for 'TLS shares' might not be very fruitful.
Instead, one will find the current Telstra share price using the code 'TLSDA'. That doesn't quite roll off the tongue in the same way, one could argue.
So we have TLS and TLSDA. Does this mean that Telstra now has two ticker codes?
Is it TLS or TLSDA for Telstra shares?
Well, not quite. At the moment, the TLS ticker code is dormant. But not extinct. Telstra is actually in the midst of a corporate and legal restructuring. Its name will soon change to 'Telstra Group Limited' rather than 'Telstra Corporation Limited'.
This reflects that Telstra will soon be, legally anyway, a new holding company for its four now-separate underlying businesses: ServeCo, InfraCo Fixed, Amplitel and Telstra International.
According to the company, it is undertaking this revamp to "increase focus on its customer and infrastructure businesses, increase transparency of the assets in these businesses, and create greater flexibility and optionality to realise value from the Telstra Group's fixed infrastructure assets over time".
But when this whole operation is complete, traditionalists will be relieved to know that Telstra shares will return to their old TLS ticker code. This is expected to occur on 1 November.
Until then, remember to use TLSDA for looking up the prices on Telstra shares.
