# BT Group plc Results in line with expectations

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/bt-group-plc-results-in-line-with-expectations/412789229
- Published: 2019-08-02T07:30:25+01:00
- Author: Amilia Stone

**[BT Group plc](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/ftse-company/bt-group-plc/bt-a.l)**(
LON:BT.A) today announced its trading update for the first quarter to 30 June 2019.

**Key strategic developments:**

·     EE successfully launched the UK’s first 5G mobile network in six cities

·     BT named the UK’s major broadband universal service obligation provider by
Ofcom

·     12 successive quarters of improvement in Group NPS^(1), up 0.3 points

·     Openreach announced updated pricing for wholesale FTTP broadband and the next
36 locations in its FTTP rollout

·     BT welcomes the Government’s ambition for full fibre broadband across the 
country and is ready to play its part to accelerate the pace of rollout

·     Sale of BT Centre agreed for £210m and lease signed for new headquarters in
Aldgate, London

**Operational:**

·     Openreach continues FTTP rollout at c.20k premises passed per week with 267k
premises passed in the quarter; 3.7m ultrafast (FTTP and Gfast) premises passed 
to date

·     Consumer fixed ARPC £37.9 flat year on year; postpaid mobile ARPC £20.7, down
4.6% on Q1 2018/19 due to the impact of regulation and lower RPI price increases

·     Fixed churn down to 1.3% following customer experience improvements; postpaid
mobile churn remains at 1.1%

·     EE first in 15 out of 16 RootMetrics tests for mobile network performance

**Financial results:**

·     Reported and adjusted^(1) revenue of £5,633m down 1% with decreases in Consumer,
Enterprise and Global

·     Adjusted EBITDA^(1) down 1%^(2) at £1,958m driven by lower revenues and higher
spectrum fees and content costs, partly offset by reduction in costs from restructuring
and transformation programmes

·     Reported profit before tax of £642m and adjusted^(1) profit before tax of 
£749m, impacted by the higher upfront interest expense on the IFRS 16 lease liabilities
recognised from 1 April 2019

·     Normalised free cash flow^(1) of £323m down 36% reflecting increased capital
expenditure and higher interest and tax payments, partially offset by working capital
phasing

·     Reported capital expenditure of £931m up 11% primarily due to network investment
and customer driven costs

·     Full year outlook maintained

> **Philip Jansen, Chief Executive, commenting on the trading update, said**:
> “BT delivered results in line with our expectations for the quarter, with adjusted
> EBITDA declines in Consumer and Enterprise partly offset by growth in Global. 
> We are on track to meet our outlook for the full year.
> “We made good progress during the quarter, including launching the UK’s first 
> 5G network, delivering an improvement to our group net promoter score for the 
> twelfth consecutive quarter, announcing the first nine cities in our consolidated
> office footprint, and being named the major broadband universal service obligation
> provider for the UK.
> “In building a better BT for the future we need to be even more competitive. We
> will continue to take decisive action, including on price, to further strengthen
> our customer propositions and market position, both to respond to any short-term
> market pressures and to capitalise on longer-term opportunities.
> “On network investment, we welcome the Government’s ambition for full fibre broadband
> across the country and we are confident we will see further steps to stimulate
> investment. We are ready to play our part to accelerate the pace of rollout, in
> a manner that will benefit both the country and our shareholders, and we are engaging
> with the Government and Ofcom on this.”

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