BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) shares fell after it unveiled a small increase in third-quarter profit as cost savings offset a decline in revenue.
Reported pre-tax profit climbed 1% to £427 million in the three months to December, as adjusted earnings grew 4% to £2.1 billion, BT reported on Thursday.
Revenue slipped 3% to £5.2 billion in the meantime, as record fibre rollout and price increases were offset by challenging conditions outside of the UK.
BT noted that Openreach's fibre-to-the-premises build rate had surpassed one million homes for a fourth consecutive quarter, resulting in over half of the UK connected.
Openreach revenue nudged up 1% to £1.5 billion, while sales for BT's consumer and business both declined 2%.
Efforts to cut costs remained on track, with BT citing lower energy usage, labour costs and a reduction in Openreach repair volumes.
“Our ongoing modernisation continues at pace,” chief executive Allison Kirby said, “benefits from our cost transformation more than offset lower revenue outside the UK and weak handset sales”.
“We continue to make progress towards becoming fully focused on the UK, with the sale of our data centre business in Ireland.
“BT's continued delivery means we remain on track to deliver our financial outlook for this year and our cash flow inflection to [around] £2.0 billion in 2027 and £3.0 billion by the end of the decade.”
BT also announced Jon James, formerly of Danish telecoms provider Nuuday, would be appointed chief executive of its business division.
Shares in the FTSE 100 telecoms group fell almost 4% in early trading on Thursday.
Analysts said revenues missed forecasts by 1% but EBITDA was a 3% beat, helped by one-offs and cost savings.