BT fourth quarter and financial year end results

Popular News Tags (5289)

  • BT Group plc (BT.L) today announced its results for the fourth quarter and year to 31 March 2016.

    Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive, commenting on the results, said:

    “This has been a landmark year for BT.  We’ve completed our acquisition of EE, the UK’s best 4G mobile network provider, we’ve passed more than 25m premises with fibre and we’ve also delivered a strong financial performance.  We’ve met our outlook with our main revenue4 measure up 2.0%, the best performance for more than seven years.  Our profit before tax1 was up a healthy 9%. 

    “Customers want to be online wherever they are and we will be there for them.  Our multi-billion pound investment plans will see both fibre and 4G reach 95% of the UK and we won't stop there.  The UK is a digital leader and our investment in ultrafast broadband will help it stay ahead.

    “The integration of EE is going well and we now see the opportunity to deliver more synergies than we originally expected, and at a lower cost. And we’re reorganising our business to better serve customers both in the UK and internationally.

    “We’ve invested across the business and are seeing good results.  Our BT Sport audiences are up 45 per cent this year following the launch of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League content.  BT Mobile has done well since its launch, building a customer base of over 400,000.  And in the business market, we’ve seen very strong demand for our cyber security expertise with our security business growing by 24%. 

    “Customers are benefiting from our investments but we plan to do more when it comes to service, to meet customers’ rising expectations.  That’s why Openreach is tackling missed appointments, why BT Consumer will be upgrading service levels to next day repair and why we’ve hired 900 engineers.  We’ve also recruited more than 900 extra contact centre staff.  This will enable us to return EE and BT Consumer contact centre work to the UK.

    “Our strong overall performance for the year is reflected in our full year dividend, which is up 13%.  Our results and the investments we’re making position us well to continue to grow in the coming years.  In light of our confidence we are setting out financial and dividend guidance for the next two years.”

    Colm O’Neill, Managing Director, BT Major Business & Public Sector UK and Ireland, said:

    “BT Ireland has delivered a good financial performance in the year with revenue up 7% and profit (EBITDA) up 8%.  Our significant local and global capabilities are boosting sales to the business and public sectors, as we support their transformation programmes and growth ambitions.  Fibre broadband remains a strategic priority, and while we are currently at over 93% availability, we are focused on bringing improved broadband speeds to harder to reach rural areas. 

    With the acquisition of mobile network operator, EE, we will be a digital champion for the UK, benefiting consumers, businesses and communities as we combine the power of fibre broadband with the convenience of leading edge mobile services.”

    Key highlights:

    - In the fourth quarter 2015/16, BT Ireland (all-island) underlying revenue excluding the impact of FX and transit was up 3% year on year, driven by growth in managed services and continued fibre broadband growth in Northern Ireland, and by call volumes and data in Republic of Ireland.

    - For the full year ending 31st March 2016, BT Ireland (all island) underlying revenue excluding the impact of FX and transit was up 7% year on year to £681 million, and profits (EBITDA) increased by 8%

    - In Northern Ireland, new business and public sector contracts secured over the course of the financial year ending 31st March 2016 include: desktop deployment services contract with Health and Social Care Northern Ireland; Microsoft Licensing agreement with the DFP and Associated Agencies: a 10 year data centre deal for the NI Public Sector; a Network upgrade and expansion with resilience, core switch upgrades, and Avaya licensing and hardware integration with Abbey Insurance Broker; and a managed network service contract with Danske Bank.

    - The company has made a multi-million euro investment in its Belfast and Dublin data centres as part of expansion plans and energy efficiency programmes following new customer contracts.  These data centres are part of one of the largest data centre networks in the world, currently standing at 48 across the five continents, connected on BT’s own global network.

    - In Northern Ireland, over 250,000 consumers and businesses have now signed up for fibre broadband services (via BT’s network).  Over 93% of premises are passed by this fibre network, as a result of BT’s own commercial investment and its partnerships with the public sector.  One of these public-private partnerships – the NI Broadband Improvement Project – has recently been completed and involved the roll out of over one million metres of fibre cable to more than 60,000 premises.  BT has also made Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) available to over 4,000 rural premises.

    - BT has completed its acquisition of EE, the mobile network operator, which has over 98% 4G outdoor population coverage across Northern Ireland.  EE has announced that 100% of customer service calls will be handled in NI, ROI, and GB by the end of 2016, supporting commitment to provide the best customer service for a mobile operator in the UK.  To realise this ambition, EE is creating 600 new roles across UK and Ireland.

Share this story