BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) eked out modest growth in revenue and earnings in the third quarter but warned performance continued to be hit by rising costs and that its broadband base would decline.
The telco said in the third quarter ending December, adjusted revenue rose 3% to £5.34 billion from £5.21 billion the year prior, while adjusted EBITDA edged 1% higher to £2.03 billion from £2.01 billion.
Delivering her first trading update as chief executive, Allison Kirkby said: “BT Group has delivered another quarter of revenue and EBITDA growth, while rapidly building and upgrading customers to our full-fibre broadband and 5G networks, and we continue to be on track to achieve our financial outlook for the year."
But BT said financial performance continued to be impacted by higher input costs, legacy declines and prior year one-offs, partly offset by cost transformation and growth in Small & Medium Business and Security.
The firm said Openreach broadband average revenue per user grew by 10% year on year but reported broadband line losses of 369,000 in the year to date, a 2% decline in the broadband base.
It warned ongoing weak broadband market conditions mean losses will exceed 400,000 in 2024.
The firm said fibre to the premises (FTTP) build rate accelerated to 73,000 per week, with a record of 950,000 premises passed in the quarter. The FTTP footprint has now been expanded to 13 million premises with initial build underway to a further 6 million.
Openreach customer demand remained strong for FTTP with net adds of 432,000 in the third quarter and a total of 4.4 million premises now connected.
The company reconfirmed all 2024 financial outlook metrics.