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LONDON (Alliance News) - BT Group PLC Thursday posted results in line with expectations for its recently ended financial year, and said it expects to achieve "modest" growth in earnings for the current year, despite some additional costs from the launch of its UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League content in the year.
BT reported pretax profit of GBP2.65 billion for the year to the end of March, up from GBP2.31 billion a year before, as a decline in revenue to GBP17.98 billion from GBP18.29 billion was offset by a reduction in operating costs of 7%.
The company attributed the fall in revenue to declines in UK public sector revenue in its BT Global Services division, which more than offset a GBP30 million boost from ladder pricing agreements.
According to broker forecasts provided by the company, BT was expected to post a pretax profit of GBP2.65 billion on revenue of GBP17.90 billion.
The company proposed a final dividend of 8.5 pence, giving it a total dividend for the year of 12.4p, up 14% from 10.9 pence the year before. It said it expects to propose a rise in dividend of between 10% and 15% in the coming year.
Shareholders approved its GBP12.5 billion acquisition of mobile network EE Ltd last week, although it is still waiting for regulatory approval. EE has not been included in its outlook for the coming year.
The company expects a cash flow before specific items, pension deficit payments and the cash tax benefit of pension deficit payments of around GBP2.8 billion for the coming financial year.
"It's been a ground-breaking year for BT, in which we've made some key decisions and announced some major investments to underpin the future growth of the business. Profit before tax and free cash flow have both grown strongly and we have delivered or beaten the outlook we set at the start of the year," said Chief Executive Gavin Patterson in a statement.
"Our performance during the year is reflected in our full year dividend, which is up 14%. Our results and the investments we are making position us well for the future and enable us to increase our free cash flow outlook for the coming year," Patterson added.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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