RE: Buy Rating : Berenberg23 May 2022 09:33
BT Group set for price boost in coming days - Berenberg
"We believe that BT moving to growth represents a watershed moment in the investment case,” Berenberg said.
Liberty Global - BT Group set for price boost in coming days - Berenberg
BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) will return to top-line growth helped by inflation-linked price increases which come into effect in the coming days, according to European investment bank Berenberg.
Last week, BT reinstalled its final dividend as it reported lower revenue and higher-than-expected underlying profits for the past year. The telecoms group reported a 2% fall in revenue to £20.9bn but a 2% increase in underlying profit (EBITDA) to £7.6bn as management continued to take an axe to costs.
Chief executive Philip Jansen hailed infrastructure arm Openreach's roll-out continuing "like fury", with 7.2mln premises connected to high-speed broadband and the 5G network now covering more than 50% of the UK population.
“Solid Q4 KPIs were encouraging as to how customers have reacted to these price increases being communicated,” Berenberg analyst Carl Murdock-Smith today said in a note.
The analyst added: “Looking forward, we expect the usual raft of press speculation ahead of 18% shareholder Patrick Drahi’s “standstill” coming to an end on 14 June.
“While we acknowledge two sentiment risks in the coming months (pay talks with the unions and the potential for network competition news from Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) and Telefónica’s joint venture), we believe that BT moving to growth represents a watershed moment in the investment case.”
Berenberg repeated ‘buy’ rating for BT with a price target of 220p, versus a current price of 179p.
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