BT has seen profits rise by 20%, boosted by a huge
growth in "new wave" revenues that include broadband and networked
IT services.
Results for the three months to the end of June show a 20% rise
in pre-tax profits, to £511m, on overall revenue growth of 5%. But
the significance of the new wave earnings was underlined by a fall
in revenue from BT's traditional businesses, which declined by
6%.
New wave revenue, at £1,385m, was 48% higher than last year,
accounting for 29% of the group's revenue compared with 20% in the
first quarter of last year.
Excluding the recent acquisitions of Albacom and Infonet, growth
in new wave revenue was 31%, with networked IT services revenue
rising by 43% to £904m, and broadband revenue increasing by 69 per
cent to £314m.
BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen said: "This has been a great
first quarter and builds on the momentum we have seen gathering for
more than a year. Revenue grew by 5% in the quarter and earnings
per share grew by 25%. We have achieved real international
success."
He added: "We won global networked IT services orders of £2.4bn
in the quarter which takes orders for the last 12 months to a
record level of more than £8bn - a terrific achievement."
Contract wins included a deal with the Ministry of Defence
expected to be worth up to £1.5 bn over seven years. Wholesale
broadband connections have also increased sharply, more than
doubling in the year to 5.6 million.