BT has reported sales of £9.8bn for the half year,
representing a 3% increase.
Despite the modest sales increase, BT managed to post a 17%
increase in pre-tax profits, helped by higher margins from its “new
wave” broadband IP businesses. Pre-tax profits for the half-year
ending 30 September were £1.2bn.
BT’s broadband service to rival companies that use its
infrastructure has come under fire from Ofcom. The latest report
from the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator, an
independent body appointed by Ofcom, showed that service company BT
Openreach had failed to significantly improve matters.
The new monthly report for October showed that BT had achieved
“right first time” connections of only 81% (up from the 78% in
September) – the industry target is 98%. A failure to show any
major service improvement may lead Ofcom to take action against the
company.
The half-year results also showed that BT’s company pension
scheme had a £2bn deficit as of 30 September.
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