BT profit drops a fifth but telecoms giant boosts guidance
Telecoms giant BT said that half-year profit had slipped 20 per cent this morning but still boosted its earnings guidance for the full year.
Post-tax profit dropped from £1.07bn last year to £856m, while revenue at the FTSE 100 firm fell eight per cent to £10.6bn.
The company said that the fall was due to the coronavirus pandemic. It added that its BT Sport division had suffered particularly from the decline in live sport.
Despite the falls, the blue-chip stock lifted its earnings guidance for the year to £7.3bn – £7.5bn.
Chief exec Philip Jansen said: “BT delivered financial results in-line with expectations for the first half of the year, thanks to strong operational
performance during exceptional circumstances.
“This performance has given us confidence to raise the lower end of our EBITDA outlook range for this year and publish an EBITDA expectation of at least £7.9bn for 2022/23, with sustainable growth from this level forward.”
BT said that its roll out of fibre broadband had reached record levels of 40,000 premises a week in the second quarter.
In total, it has now provided fibre networks to over 3.5m households.
It added that it had brought 5G networks to 112 towns and cities, and had over 1m customers ready to be upgraded to the new digital infrastructure.
BT added that it had saved £352m in the first half through its new “modernisation” programme.
As a result, the company has already cut 3,600 full-time roles.
By 2025, the scheme should save the firm £2bn a year.
More to follow.