BT Group’s revenue declined two per cent to £20.4 billion for the full year to March 2025, due to continued challenging trading conditions and weaker consumer handset sales.
This offset Openreach’s FTTP growth and the price increases it made.
Reported profit before tax grew 12 per cent to £1.3 billion, primarily due to goodwill impairment in the prior year, offset by higher specific costs and net finance expense.
BT’s adjusted EBITDA was also up one per cent at £8.2 billion over the same period, driven by strong cost transformation.
At the same time, the company reported an FTTP build of 4.3 million premises passed, with the total footprint reaching more than 18 million, including 4.9 million in rural locations.
Openreach FTTP quarterly net adds also rose above 500,000, with total premises connected standing at more than 6.5 million as it increased its take-up rate to 36 per cent, while broadband ARPU grew by six per cent to £16.
However, Openreach broadband lines fell by 243,000 in Q4, driven by losses to competitors and a weaker broadband market.
BT also announced a new FTTP build target of up to five million for FY26, underpinning the overall December 2026 target of 25 million.
Meanwhile, the company’s retail FTTP base increased 33 per cent yoy to 3.4 million, 3.2 million of which was consumer and 200,000 of which was business.
Its 5G base was also up 15 per cent yoy to 13.2 million.
The business also continued to refocus on the UK, with disposals of operations in Ireland and, after the period end, Italy; while its Emergency Services Network contract was secured for another seven years.
BT’s net debt, meanwhile, grew to £19.8 million, mainly due to its scheduled pension scheme contributions of £800 million, partly offset by free cash flow
Allison Kirkby, BT Group chief executive, said, “BT Group delivered strong progress against its strategic priorities in FY25, as we stepped up the pace of build of the UK’s leading next generation networks. We set new record build and connect highs: our full fibre network now reaches more than 18 million homes and businesses, with more than 6.5 million already connected, and we were awarded the country’s best mobile network for the 11th year in a row recognising EE’s clear leadership in 5G.
"We also accelerated the pace of simplification and transformation, agreeing asset sales, improving customer satisfaction across all of our brands and business segments, and delivering over £900 million of annualised cost savings.
“Although revenue declined year-on-year driven mainly by lower international sales and handsets, strong cost control and a step-up in focus and transformation resulted in growth in both EBITDA and normalised free cash flow, allowing us to increase our dividend for FY25 by two per cent to 8.16p per share.
“The momentum in, and impact of, our full fibre programme is such that we are now raising our build target by 20 per cent to up to five million UK premises in FY26, keeping us comfortably on track to reach 25m by the end of 2026, while maintaining our cash flow guidance. We are now only one year away from our inflection to £2 billion of normalised free cash flow, our target for FY27, and remain on track to deliver £3 billion by the end of the decade.
“With the leadership team now in place to take our strategy forward, I am confident that as we build and connect at pace, our transformation will accelerate and deliver a better BT for all of us - our customers, our colleagues, the country and our owners.”