BT Group’s revenues declined 3 per cent to £10.1 billion from £10.4 billion in the half year to 30 September 2024.
This was mainly due to challenging conditions in the business segment, principally driven by non-UK trading in the company’s global and portfolio channels.
In the rest of the Group, lower CPI benefit and continued competitive markets in the consumer segments were broadly offset by growth in Openreach due to price increases, Ethernet base growth and improving FTTP volume and mix.
BT Group’s profit before tax also fell 10 per cent to £967 million from £1.1 million, primarily due to lower revenue, higher specific costs and higher net finance expenses, partly offset by a reduction in reported operating costs.
However, the company’s adjusted EBITDA rose 1 per cent to £4.1 billion over the same period as revenue flow through more was offset by cost transformation.
BT Group reported a record FTTP build rate of 2.1 million in the half-year, with its FTTP footprint passing 16 million premises in October. It also increased its FY25 build target to 4.2 million within its existing capex envelope, driven by build cost efficiencies and is on track to reach 25 million by December 2026.
The company posted strong customer demand for Openreach FTTP, with record net additions of 446,000 in Q2. Total premises connected also reached 5.5 million, with an increased 35 per cent take-up rate. In addition, growth in FTTP as a proportion of the broadband base contributed to a reduction in 12-month repair volumes of 300,000 to 3 million, supporting growth in margin and EBITDA.
Capital expenditure decreased two per cent to £2.3 billion, with peak reported capex passed in FY24, primarily driven by lower networks spend despite higher FTTP build due to reduced unit costs and efficiencies.
Allison Kirkby, chief executive of BT Group, said, “We have accelerated the modernisation of BT Group in the first half of the year. We’ve ramped up our full fibre build and connections, seen further improvements in customer satisfaction, and our cost transformation contributed to growth in EBITDA and normalised free cash flow despite revenue declines driven by our non-UK operations and a competitive retail environment.
“Our nationwide full fibre rollout has set new records, now reaching more than 16 million premises, and we have further extended our industry-leading take-up rate to 35 per cent. Our cost to build continues to reduce, enabling us to increase this year's build target to 4.2 million with no additional capex spend. We also expanded our 5G network to cover 80 per cent of the UK population, more than any other operator. These investments in the UK’s next generation networks are enabling much better experiences, reflected in our improved net promoter scores.
“We are confirming our EBITDA, capex and cash flow guidance for FY25, albeit on lower revenue guidance. We remain firmly on track to meet our long-term cost savings and cash flow targets, and today announce an interim dividend of 2.40pps. The accelerated modernisation of our operations, combined with a focus on connecting the UK, puts us in a strong position to generate significant value for all our stakeholders.”