BT hits fibre milestone in fiscal first half
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Editor
| 03 November 2022
After a financial quarter in which it said it was “building and connecting like fury”, UK telco BT has reported H1 results showing significant growth in the reach of its gigabit-capable fixed broadband network and EE 5G mobile network.
BT logo corporate 28Jul2022
For the half year ended 30 September 2022, the company reported total revenue of £10.4 billion, inching up 1% on an annual basis due to growth in its Consumer and Openreach broadband provision division, partially offset the impact of the disposal of the BT Sport business as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Adjusted EBITDA for the half year was £3.9 billion, up 3% attributed to revenue growth, cost control and some one-off items, partially offset by increased energy costs and cost inflation. Reported profit before tax was £0.8 billion, down 18% due to higher specific costs offsetting adjusted EBITDA growth and increased depreciation from network build.

Indeed, the latter was a key characteristic of the six-month period with BT reporting capital expenditure of £2.6 billion, up 2% due to increased Openreach investments in fixed network infrastructure offsetting a decline in spectrum. Capital expenditure excluding spectrum payments was up 26% annually.

The company reported that its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) build had passed 8.8 million premises at the end of September, including 2.8 million in rural areas of the UK, with initial build underway on a further 6 million premises. The company claimed weekly build rate averaging 62,000 premises in Q2 leading to total quarterly net additions of 331,000 with total take up of 27%.

Commenting on the third quarter results, BT chief executive Philip Jansen said: “BT Group remains on the front foot in these turbulent times. Our strategy is working, we're executing against our plan and we're confident that we'll deliver our long-term ambition while underpinning economic growth in the UK. “High-quality connectivity has never been more important for our customers.”