George Frangeskides, Exec-Chair at Alba Mineral Resources, discusses grades at the Clogau Gold Mine. Watch the full video here.

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksBT Share News (BT.A)

Share Price Information for BT (BT.A)

London Stock Exchange
Share Price is delayed by 15 minutes
Get Live Data
Share Price: 109.65
Bid: 109.65
Ask: 109.70
Change: 0.40 (0.37%)
Spread: 0.05 (0.046%)
Open: 110.00
High: 110.50
Low: 109.20
Prev. Close: 109.25
BT.A Live PriceLast checked at -

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

UPDATE: BT Third Quarter Profit Beats Expectations, Progresses On EE

Fri, 30th Jan 2015 08:00

LONDON (Alliance News) - BT Group PLC Friday reaffirmed its outlook for the full year as it posted pretax profit ahead of analyst expectations in its third quarter, and said that it is making "good progress" on its due diligence in relation to the potential acquisition of EE Ltd.

The company also announced that it has agreed a 16 year recovery plan with the trustee of the BT Pension Scheme.

BT is in talks to buy the Orange and Deutsche Telekom AG joint venture for GBP12.5 billion. It plans to fund the acquisition through cash and shares, with Deutsche Telekom to take a 12% stake in BT, and Orange a 4% stake. The acquisition would bolster BT's planned re-entry into the consumer mobile market after more than a decade's absence.

BT said that its plans to launch a consumer mobile offering "remain on track", although it did not provide a timetable for the launch of this offering.

BT posted a pretax profit of GBP694 million for quarter to end-December 2014, up from GBP617 million a year before, and ahead of consensus analyst expectations of GBP658 million, although revenue came in lower at GBP4.48 billion, down from GBP4.60 billion, just missing analyst expectations of GBP4.49 billion.

This was primarily due to a reduction in operating costs before depreciation and amortisation of 5%.

BT attributed the decline in revenue to the timing of contract milestones within its BT Global Services business, which bolstered its third-quarter results last year. BT Consumer revenue was up 7%, driven by growth in broadband and television, whilst BT Business declined due to lower call and line volumes.

The company improved its consumer line losses to 60,000 in the quarter, compared to 85,000 a year before, and added 119,000 retail broadband customers during the quarter. It added 209,000 retail fibre broadband customers during the quarter, takings its customer base to over GBP2.7 million, it said. In the just over a year since it launched BT Sport, 25,000 commercial premises have signed up for the service, BT said.

BT Wholesale saw an improvement on the second quarter, but continued to be hit by telecoms regulator Ofcom's narrowband market review. Openreach saw revenue decline due to regulatory price changes offsetting growth in fibre broadband.

BT continues to expect its full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP6.2 billion to GBP6.3 billion, with further growth expected in the following year. It expects to see normalised free cash flow of more than GBP2.6 billion this year, and for this to grow in the following year.

BT also intends to grow its dividend by 10% to 15% in both this year and next, and maintain its share buyback of around GBP300 million this year, and in the two following years, which it hopes will counteract the dilutive effect of employee share options plans that are maturing over the same period.

The company said it has reached an agreement with the trustee of its pension scheme on the 2014 triennial funding valuation, and a 16 year recovery plan for the pension scheme. The funding deficit of the scheme is GBP7.0 billion as at June 30, 2014, BT said. Over the next years it plans to pay a total of GBP2.0 billion, BT said, and then for the seven years from 2018 to 2024, it will make payments in line with its previous 2011 agreement.

Following this it will make five annual payments of GBP495 million through to 2029, and a final payment of GBP289 million in 2030. BT said it had also discussed details of the potential EE acquisition with the pension trustee.

BT has also outlined plans to deliver faster broadband for homes and small businesses through the deployment of what it calls "G.fast" technology, which it plans to test in two pilot locations starting this summer.

The technology will deliver speeds of up to 500 megabits per second to most of the UK within 10 years, BT said, and deployment will begin in 2016 and 2017 if the pilots are successful.

By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews

Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.

More News
28 Mar 2024 15:46

IN BRIEF: BT Group CEO Allison Kirkby buys GBP55,000 in shares

BT Group PLC - London-based telecommunications operator - Chief Executive Allison Kirkby buys 50,000 shares at GBP1.09 each, worth GBP54,500, in London on Thursday.

Read more
4 Mar 2024 11:52

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks mostly lower ahead of UK Spring budget

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mostly lower at midday Monday, as the week started off on a quiet note ahead of a busy week of monetary policy decisions and economic data from across the globe.

Read more
4 Mar 2024 08:59

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: Jefferies says buy BP; UBS says buy Compass

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Monday morning:

Read more
4 Mar 2024 07:41

LONDON BRIEFING: Stocks called down; attention on UK's spring budget

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called to open lower, ahead of a busy week of economic news.

Read more
21 Feb 2024 15:01

London close: Stocks mixed ahead of Fed minutes, Nvidia results

(Sharecast News) - London's stock markets closed with a mixed performance on Wednesday, as investors awaited updates from the US Federal Reserve and results from AI chipmaker Nvidia.

Read more
21 Feb 2024 09:45

Iconic BT Tower to be turned into hotel in £275m deal

(Sharecast News) - BT Group said on Wednesday that it has agreed to sell the BT Tower to MCR Hotels for £275m.

Read more
21 Feb 2024 09:03

BT Group to sell BT Tower to MCR Hotels for GBP275 million

(Alliance News) - BT Group PLC on Wednesday said that it has agreed to sell the BT Tower to MCR Hotels, which plans to preserve the building as a landmark hotel.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 17:25

IN BRIEF: BT CEO Allison Kirkby buys GBP428,000 in shares

BT Group PLC - London-based telecommunications operator - Chief Executive Allison Kirkby buys 400,000 shares at GBP1.07 each, worth GBP428,000, in London on Tuesday.

Read more
14 Feb 2024 15:17

PRESS: Brussels open to telecoms mergers to support investment - FT

(Alliance News) - Brussels has signalled it is open to European telecoms mergers to help fund the rollout of 5G and update ageing networks, a report said Wednesday.

Read more
2 Feb 2024 16:59

London close: Stocks mixed as US payrolls come in red-hot

(Sharecast News) - London's stock markets closed with mixed results on Friday, as investors were confronted by an unexpectedly strong US labour market as revealed in the latest US non-farm payrolls report.

Read more
2 Feb 2024 12:27

Citi trims estimates on BT, reiterates 'buy' rating

(Sharecast News) - Citi has trimmed its fourth-quarter estimates for BT Group while reiterating its 'buy' rating.

Read more
1 Feb 2024 16:48

London close: Stocks turn lower as BoE keeps rates on hold

(Sharecast News) - London's financial markets finished in the red on Thursday, reversing earlier gains after the Bank of England maintained interest rates at current levels.

Read more
1 Feb 2024 08:50

LONDON MARKET OPEN: Shells begins USD3.5 billion buyback; eyes on BoE

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened mixed, ahead of the Bank of England's first interest rate decision of the year.

Read more
1 Feb 2024 08:46

TOP NEWS: BT says on track for full year after third-quarter rise

(Alliance News) - BT Group PLC on Thursday said it is on track to meet its guidance for its current financial year, after slight growth in revenue and earnings in the third quarter that was partly thanks to price hikes.

Read more
1 Feb 2024 07:42

LONDON BRIEFING: Shell profit falls; announces USD3.5 billion buyback

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to follow New York into the red, after the US Federal Reserve quashed hopes of a March cut to interest rates and ahead of the Bank of England interest rate decision.

Read more

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.