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BT Group sees quarterly profits decline ease

Published: 07:32 04 Feb 2021 GMT

BT Group PLC -

BT Group PLC (LON:BT.A) saw a slight easing in its profits decline in the last quarter although the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to have a negative effect.

Profit guidance for the full year was maintained by the FTSE 100 telecoms group, with cash flow guidance also tightened up.

Profit before tax of £1.6bn for the nine months to end-December 2020 was down 17% year-on-year, compared to a 20% reduction in the first half of the year.

Revenue fell  7% to £16.1bn as COVID-19 continued to affect both consumer and enterprise units, as well as declines in legacy copper wire products and sales of businesses in Spain, Latin America and France.

BT's chief executive Philip Jansen emphasised the company’s operational progress, saying it had “continued to deliver for our customers and invest in our networks, our modernisation programme, and our products and services in recognition of the ever-increasing need for improved and faster connectivity”.

On superfast broadband, he said BT’s Openreach arm has now installed 5G masts in 125 towns and cities and laid optical fibre to the premises (FTTP) for 4mln homes and offices, with Openreach currently completing around 17,000 FTTP orders per week.

“With no material impact expected from the Brexit deal and our resilient results so far this year I remain confident in our EBITDA expectation of at least £7.9bn for 2022/23,” Jansen added in the results statement, with EBITDA for the current year guided for £7.3bn-£7.5bn.

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