BT Revenue Declines as Profit Increases

BT Group reported quarterly revenue of £5,006 million, down 4%, and adjusted EBITDA of £1,399 million, up 6%, as total group operating costs, before specific items, decreased by 6% to £4,424m, primarily due to reductions
in total labour costs and the delivery of other cost savings by all lines of business. Adjusted profit before tax was £446 million, up 17%.


"We have made an acceptable start to the year, delivering improved financial results while investing in the future of the business. In TV we are offering great value premium sports packages and can now compete on a more even playing field. We hit the first major milestone in our fibre roll out, passing over 1.5m premises, and we are now running at an average rate of around 100,000 premises passed every week. In BT Global Services we continue to win significant contracts due to our ability to deliver a world class service to our customers," stated Ian Livingston, Chief Executive.


For BT Retail, revenue decreased by 7%. This decline was largely due to the ongoing reduction in calls and lines revenue. Excluding the one-off revenue benefit last year, our Consumer revenues were down 6%. Business revenues were down 4%. Consumer ARPU increased to £314, up £5 over the previous quarter, principally due to increasing take up of broadband. Broadband net additions were 96,000 in the quarter and BT's retail market share was 40%. Since the launch in January of BT's "Infinity" fibre based broadband service has seen order levels accelerate.


For BT Wholesale, revenue declined by 10%. Excluding the £44m reduction in low margin transit revenue, primarily due to mobile termination rate reductions, revenue declined by 2%. This decline reflected in part continued reductions in broadband and circuits revenue of £69m. Managed network services (MNS) revenue grew by 19% to £199m and now represents 24% of external revenue (Q1 2009/10: 19%). 42% of external revenue is now underpinned by long term contracts (Q1 2009/10: 34%).


For Openreach, revenue declined by 8%. Growth in Ethernet volumes stimulated by lower prices and other connection revenues offset the continued migration from WLR to lower priced MPF. Net operating costs reduced by 17% partly due to changes in the internal trading model offsetting the revenue decline and lower leaver costs. Capital expenditure increased by 16% due to the increased investment in the fibre roll.
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