BT quarterly revenues and profits fall after Global Services slump

BT has reported falls in sales and profit in its latest financial quarter as its enterprise-focused Global Services division reports double-digit drops for both.

Sales at the Global Services business fell by 10% to £1.26bn in the second quarter of its current financial year, which ended on 30 September, as the division’s profit plummeted by 39% to £81m.

There was better news for BT Consumer, where sales were up 1% to £1.26bn and EE sales increased by 4% to £1.32bn. BT Consumer profits were 3% down at £245m, while EE profits were 16% up at £326m.

BT completed the £12.5bn acquisition of EE early last year, when the mobile operator became a new business unit in the wider group.

BT CEO Gavin Patterson said encouraging results in the consumer-facing business had helped to offset continuing challenges in the enterprise divisions.

The integration of EE and other cost-cutting programmes will bring savings, he said. “Our integration and restructuring programmes are also on track to deliver run-rate savings of £250m and £150m, respectively, by the end of this year,” he added.

In May this year, BT said it would cut 4,000 jobs over the next two years to save £300m through a restructuring programme across its Global Services, Group Functions and Technology, Services and Operations units.

Patterson said BT would attempt to deliver ultrafast speeds to 12 million premises by the end of 2020. “We are working closely with the UK government, Ofcom and our communications provider partners to find the right solutions to accelerate the deployment of fibre and our universal broadband commitment,” he said.