(Alliance News) - BT Group PLC's first quarter earnings suffered from a lack of live sport, and the telecommunications firm forecasts a fall in annual revenue.
The company added that it has named Rob Shuter, outgoing chief executive officer of Johannesburg-listed telecoms firm MTN Group Ltd, as the new head of its Enterprise business communications unit.
In the three months to June 30, BT's revenue fell 6.8% to GBP5.25 billion from GBP5.63 billion. Pretax profit fell 13% annually to GBP561 million from GBP642 million.
BT notes its revenue slip was "primarily due to the impact of Covid-19", specifically the cancellation of sporting events due to the virus. BT's sport broadcasting arm has television rights to English football's Premier League as well as the Champions League and Europa League, leading pan-European football tournaments.
Chief Executive Philip Jansen said: "During the quarter Openreach resumed provisioning and repair activity in customer premises, we re-opened the majority of our retail stores, and we saw the restart of the Premier League on BT Sport. Enterprise has today launched the BT Small Business Support Scheme, which will boost cash flow, connectivity and confidence among this critical segment of the economy over the coming months.
"Despite Covid-19, BT delivered a strong operating performance in the first quarter and delivered a relatively resilient set of financial results."
BT for the first time offered financial guidance for financial 2021. It forecasts adjusted revenue to fall by between 5% and 6%. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are expected between GBP7.2 billion and GBP7.5 billion, at best a 5.1% decline from GBP7.9 billion in financial 2020.
On Shuter's appointment, BT said he is expected to join the company by the end of financial 2021.
BT noted that MTN is Africa's leading mobile telecommunications company with 250 million customers across 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Prior to joining MTN, Shuter served as CEO of Vodafone Group PLC's European Cluster as well as being CEO of Vodafone Netherlands, BT said.
Shuter's departure from MTN was announced back in March, during a conference call following the company's 2019 results announcement.
The current CEO of BT Enterprise, Gerry McQuade, has announced he will be retiring from BT.
He spent 12 years at EE before joining BT.
BT CEO Jansen said: "I'd like to thank Gerry for the contribution he's made over a number of years. Most recently where he has led the creation of Enterprise and has overseen the strengthening of our core business to deliver the best fixed and mobile networks in the UK. We've been discussing for a while the right time for Gerry to retire from BT and I wish him all the best for the future."
BT shares were 3.0% lower at 104.64 pence each in London on Friday morning. In Johannesburg, MTN was down 0.2% at ZAR60.54.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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