BT sees profits rise but revenues drop

Profits at BT jumped 21 per cent in the last quarter with the telco adding well over three quarters of a million customers to its broadband network over the past year. It said demand for its fibre optic broadband service was particularly strong.

While profits were up in the firm's final financial quarter, overall revenues were down two per cent, according to figures published by the company.

Demand for broadband pushed up performance with 834,000 customers added to the network and BT fibre broadband connections grew by about 270,000 in the last quarter, tipping the total number of customers using fibre over the 1.5 million mark. The figures included customers upgrading from ADSL as well as new ones.

BT Retail's broadband based BTVision TV service also grew by over 40,000 customers in the quarter to reach 810,000 subscribers.

Pre-tax profits for the year increased two per cent to 2.5 billion. The company increase its final dividend by 14 per cent to 6.5 pence, taking the full-year dividend to 9.5 pence. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by two per cent to 6.2 million. BT also reduced its net debt by 1.3 billion.

BT chief executive Ian Livingston said: "We are driving fibre across the UK, launching high-quality sports channels, investing in the high-growth regions of the world and will use our Wi-Fi capabilities and 4G spectrum to make sure our customers will be the best connected."

He added that the company was committed to investing in its future and delivering growth in profits and dividends.

"We have created around 3,000 new jobs in the UK over the last year to support these investments," he said.

"Our focus on improving efficiency across the business will allow us to continue to deliver strong financial results whilst making these investments. Our good performance this year is reflected in our dividend which is up 14 per cent for the year."