BT promised investors there was light at the end of the tunnel after the effects of coronavirus cut profits by a fifth to €1.1bn in the first half of the year. The company said headline revenue remained "relatively resilient" despite falling 8% to €10.6bn over the six-month period, but there were issues caused by economic conditions and effects of enforcement measures. mortgage. Reduced business activity and an increase in flexible working contributed to a 9% drop in business revenue, while consumer revenue fell 6%. Part of this can be attributed to BT Sport, which had offered subscribers the option to suspend payments during the enforced suspension of live sport.
BT results
However, long-term investments in the network and restructuring efforts are sure to pay off in the future. Despite the challenges that Covid-19 presents, Openreach is adding 40,000 properties per week to its fiber to the premises (FTTP) network. The total footprint is now 3,5 million and all of Openreach's major customers now sell full fiber services. BT says there was a strong increase in sales in the second quarter, with its own fiber retail customer base growing by 60% year-on-year. The expansion of the EE 5G network continued and the service is now available in 112 cities. BT says there are now a million 5G-ready customers on its network and expects demand for the iPhone 12, the first compatible Apple phone, to drive adoption. With all this in mind, BT has raised its forecast for the future and plans to reinstate its dividend next year. "BT delivered financial results in line with expectations for the first half of the year, thanks to strong operating performance in exceptional circumstances," said Philip Jansen, CEO of BT. “Customer demand during the pandemic has shown just how critical our networks have become, and our significant network investments have helped us double the number of Openreach FTTP orders compared to the same period last year and saw our network main 5G expand to 112 cities in Great Britain. “We continue to invest to make BT more competitive and I am happy to see the quality of our products and services improve. At the same time, we are firmly on the right track in implementing our modernization program and achieved cost savings of €352 million in the first half of the year. “This performance has given us confidence to lower our EBITDA outlook range for this year and publish an EBITDA forecast of at least €7.9bn for 2022/23, with sustainable growth from this level. This growth will be driven by the continued recovery from Covid-19, bolstered by sales of our converged and growth products, and by significant savings through our modernization and cost reduction program. Together, these factors will more than offset the declines in legacy products. "