BT grows its broadband service
Net profits stood at 1.548 billion pounds (2.278 billion euros, 2.919 billion dollars) in the twelve months to March 31, 2006, compared with 1.829 billion the previous financial year, BT said in an official earnings release. BT, the biggest British telecom company, said that sales had risen by 6.0% to 19.514 billion pounds over the period.
That was due to the addition of 800,000 new broadband Internet subscribers in the fourth quarter, which took the total customer base to 7.9 million people. Since then it has broken through the 8.0-million barrier. BT added that annual pre-tax profit before exceptional items jumped to 2.177 billion pounds, versus 2.080 the previous year.
Analysts had forecast pre-tax earnings of 2.15 billion pounds on sales of 19.64 billion. Faced with steep declines at its traditional voice business, BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen has placed broadband and other internet communications technology services at the heart of BT’s growth strategy.
Revenues from these ‘new wave’ products surged 38% to 6.3 billion pounds over course of the fiscal year, representing more than a third of group turnover, said BT. By contrast, revenues from BT’s traditional businesses fell 3 percent in the fourth quarter, reflecting stiffening competition from the likes of Carphone Warehouse’s TalkTalk service for British landline customers.
"This is an excellent set of full year results delivered in a competitive and fast-changing environment," said Christopher Bland, chairman of BT, in comments accompanying the results.
"We are confident in our ability to improve shareholder returns and accelerate the strategic transformation of the business."
BT Group is the successor to the state-run fixed line monopoly British Telecom which was privatised in 1984.
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