BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) has stuck to its full-year guidance despite reporting a 3% fall in adjusted revenues in the third quarter.
In a trading update, the FTSE 100-listed telco said adjusted revenues were £5.2bn in quarter three taking the figure for the nine months to 31 December 2022 to £15.6bn, down 1%.
Price increases and improved trading in Openreach and Consumer were offset by lower strategic equipment sales in Global, migration of a MVNO customer, the removal of BT Sport revenue, and legacy product declines, the company said.
For the nine months adjusted EBITDA reached £5.9bn, up 3% due to tight cost control and the removal of BT Sport costs, offset by revenue declines and inflationary cost pressures, while reported pre-tax profits of £1.3bn were 15% lower as increased depreciation offset EBITDA growth.
BT also reported record quarterly growth in its FTTP base in the Consumer division, up 155,000 to 1.6mln while the 5G ready base is now 8.5mln, with churn rates stable in what it called “a competitive market.”
In the update, Philip Jansen, BT chief executive said: "On full fibre, we're building - and now connecting - like fury.”
He noted 9.6mln premises had been reached to date, with 29% already connected, while the 5G mobile network now reaches 60% of the UK population.
Reported capital expenditure (capex) of £3.9bn for the nine months was up 3% due to increased Openreach investment in the fixed network infrastructure.
Normalised free cash flow of £0.1bn, was down £0.8bn due to increased cash capex and adverse working capital phasing primarily driven by collections timings, partially offset by a tax refund and EBITDA growth.
In reaffirming its guidance BT said that normalised free cash flow is heavily weighted to quarter four “reflecting more front-ended capex and back-ended EBITDA and receivable collections than usual.”