BT revenues up three per cent

BT today unveiled its financial results for its first quarter, reporting revenue of £5 billion and demonstrating the continued strength of its artillery in the battle for broadband market by boasting more than 11 million net connections as at the end of that period.

Revenue for the period ending 30 June was up three per cent, while profit before taxes was also up by the same percentage reaching £658 million.

The results come just a few months after BT announced the second major phase of its ambitious transformation strategy, which saw it create two new business units - BT Design and BT Operate. The new areas are headed up by former Global Services head Andy Green and have been populated by staff from other parts of the BT group.

"We have got the year off to a strong start with another robust all round performance. Revenue, EBITDA and earnings per share all continue to grow as BT builds on the achievements of last year," said BT's chief executive Ben Verwaayen.

"There is success across the board. BT Retail's share of the broadband net additions in the quarter was 38 per cent; contract wins in BT Global Services and BT Wholesale were £2 billion; outside the UK we gained more than 100 new customers. We are keeping BT ahead of the game by delivering software driven services that will offer faster, more resilient and cost effective services to our customers wherever in the world they are."

Industry analysts agree that the company is successfully evolving away from its telephony-only legacy, validating Verwaayen's comments about ensuring the communications giant remains ahead of the game.

Indeed, businesses and consumers alike can expect future offerings to be flavoured by software and IT in the future, according to Mike Cansfield, telecoms practice leader at analyst Ovum

"We have been critical of telcos in the past, including BT, for being far too technology-led. Innovation is often seen in terms of technology rather than services provided to customers. Over the past year the biggest developments in the industry have been service-led (e.g. Facebook) rather than technology-led," he said.

"During the past quarter BT has launched BT Tradespace - a social networking and marketing services portal for SMEs. It has also signed an agreement with Sony to add wireless broadband to its PSP gaming device and so enable voice and video calling through this console. Credit is due to BT for both of these service-led initiatives, and both illustrate how BT now sees innovation as not just a new piece of technology."

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