BT has reported a slight increase in revenue for its
second quarter of 2004, but cited strong growth in its "new wave"
technology segments, including broadband, mobility and managed
services.
The UK telecommunications company reported group revenue of
£4.6bn, up 1% from the £4.57bn earned in the same quarter last
year. Net profit before taxation, goodwill and exceptional items
came in at £549m, an increase of 4% from the £528m reported for the
year-ago period.
BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen said that new wave revenues
helped the company post the best underlying revenue growth it has
seen in three years, despite the ongoing decline in the company's
traditional fixed-line business. That underlying growth is allowing
the company to give shareholders an interim dividend of £0.039,
Verwaayen added.
Revenue from new wave segments added £1bn to BT's coffers in the
quarter, up 36% from a year ago. New wave revenues accounted for
22% of the group's total second-quarter revenues, BT said.
The company said that it had an installed base of 3.3 million
wholesale broadband lines by September, an increase of 146% over
last year.
Additionally, BT's Retail division said that it saw its
broadband revenue jump 81% in the quarter, to £123m. BT Retail has
been notching down prices on its BT Broadband and cobranded BT
Yahoo services in recent months to lure customers.
BT's traditional businesses, including its fixed-voice
offerings, declined 6%, however, due to increased competition,
price reduction and regulatory intervention, it said.
The company expects to see continued challenges in its
traditional business, but is optimistic about benefits from its
investments in new wave technologies.
Additionally, it sees strong growth potential in the IT and
networking services category as it banks on its buy earlier this
month of US-based Infonet Services.
Infonet has operations in over 70 countries and BT hopes the buy
will also aid its global expansion efforts.
BT is also working on driving down its net debt, which decreased
to £8.3bn at the end of the second quarter from around £8.8bn a
year ago.
Scarlet Pruitt writes for IDG News Service