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Telecoms giant BT (LON:BT.A) hailed its new football offerings for pulling in a record number of new subscribers for its fledgling TV business.
The telecoms group said TV’s contribution had been better than expected and helped consumer revenues overall rise by 7%.
But its heavy investment in BT Sport, which has pitched hard against incumbent Sky for Premier League and Champions League football, knocked earnings.
Underlying earnings fell by 1% to £1.44bn, while second quarter sales were unchanged at £4.38bn.
Lower revenues in Global Services and Wholesale offset the gain in consumer services.
Gavin Patterson, chief executive, said it had been a good quarter for the group with good demand for mobile as well as TV.
He added he was pleased with the regulatory approval of its acquisition of EE yesterday without any adjustments.
Statutory interim profits rose by 15% to £1.27bn.
Keith Bowman, at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the group’s move into the TV arena is gaining traction, aiding customer wins, whilst yesterday’s provisional approval for its acquisition of EE will significantly elevate its retail customer base.
“As such, a quad-play proposition, rivalling Virgin Media and TalkTalk is now within touching distance.”
The interim dividend rises by 13% to 4.4p. Shares rose 1p to 469p.