31st Oct 2013 08:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - BT Group PLC reaffirmed its outlook and raised its interim dividend after it posted roughly flat pretax profit and revenue in the half year ended September 30.
The telecommunications company posted revenue of GBP8.940 billion, just off from GBP8.997 billion in the previous year. Pretax profit was GBP1.204 billion, slightly up from GBP1.166 billion in the previous year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was GBP2.90 billion, down from GBP2.94 billion, reflecting investment in its new BT Sport service, BT said.
BT proposed an interim dividend of 3.4p, up 13% from 3.0p in the previous year. Earnings per share rose to 11.9 pence from 11.5 pence.
The company said that it had seen particularly strong uptake in its fibre networks during the second quarter, and that its fibre network now passes more than 17 million premises.
"BT Sport has made a confident start and is already delivering for viewers," Chief Executive Officer Gavin Patterson said in a statement. "More than two million of our customers are signed up to it and our wholesale contract with Virgin Media means its available for around four million homes in total."
BT shares were down 0.60 pence at 368.40p in early trading Thursday.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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