SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of
Announcement: 30 January
2020
BT Group plc
(Translation
of registrant's name into English)
BT
Group plc
81 Newgate Street
London
EC1A 7AJ
England
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form
20-F..X...
Form 40-F
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information
to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes
No ..X..
If
"Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-
________
Trading update
Results for the nine months to 31 December 2019
BT Group plc
30 January 2020
BT Group plc (BT.L) today announced its trading update for the nine
months to 31 December 2019.
Key strategic developments - continued delivery in line with
strategy:
●
Ofcom's consultation on the Wholesale Fixed Telecoms
Market Review is an important step forward in incentivising
investment in the UK's digital infrastructure and toward enabling
BT to significantly increase its FTTP target
●
Exclusive rights to UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa
League and UEFA Europa Conference League secured until
2024
●
On-shoring of BT brand sales and service calls
completed; nearly 500 retail stores now BT/EE dual
branded
● Our Better
Workplace programme
confirmed further long-term locations in Birmingham and
Bristol
●
Sale agreed of our domestic operations in
Spain
●
Important clarification on use of certain vendors in
5G and full fibre networks - estimated impact of c.£500m over
5 years
Operational:
●
5G now live in over 50 locations; EE found to have
broadest 5G network by RootMetrics
●
Openreach accelerates FTTP build at c.26k premises
passed per week; 2.2m FTTP premises passed to date
●
Openreach awarded two of three lots to provide
superfast speeds to Scotland; vast majority of build to be
FTTP
●
Consumer fixed ARPC £38.2, down 4% year on year
due to decline in voice revenue; postpaid mobile ARPC £20.3,
down 5% due to impact of regulation and continued trend towards
SIM-only; RGUs per address 2.38
●
Postpaid mobile churn remains low at 1.3% in Q3
despite impact of auto switching; fixed churn at 1.3% in Q3 down
from 1.4% in prior year following customer experience improvements
and new pricing strategy
Financial:
● Reported revenue
£17,246m and adjusted2 revenue
£17,192m, both down 2%1 primarily
due to ongoing headwinds from regulation, competition and legacy
product declines
● Reported profit before tax of
£1,911m; adjusted2 EBITDA
£5,900m, down 3%1,
due to the fall in revenue, higher spectrum fees, investment in
customer experience and higher operating costs in
Openreach
● Normalised free cash
flow2 of
£1,000m, down 42% due to increased cash capital expenditure,
deposit for UEFA club football rights, higher interest and tax
payments and working capital, partially offset by one-off cash
flows
●
Capital expenditure £2,877m. Up £251m
excluding BDUK funding deferral, driven by fixed and mobile network
investment
● Overall financial outlook
maintained; we expect normalised free cash flow2,
for timing reasons, to be in the lower half of the £1.9bn -
£2.1bn full year guidance
range
|
Philip Jansen, Chief Executive, commenting on the results,
said
"BT
delivered results slightly below our expectations for the third
quarter of the year, but we remain on track to meet our outlook for
the full year.
"We
continue to invest in the business. During the quarter we launched
Halo, the UK's ultimate converged plan, which will give homes and
businesses the best connection and service. We've continued to use
our national scale and local presence across the UK to provide
customers with the best possible experience, for example by meeting
our promise to answer all customer calls in the UK and Ireland and
bringing BT sales and service back to the high street in nearly 500
BT/EE stores.
"Underpinning
the ongoing development of market-leading propositions, we continue
to invest in the best converged network. We welcomed the direction
of Ofcom's recent consultation, which is an important step forward
towards a widely-shared ambition to invest in fibre across the
whole of the UK. We're also investing in 5G, making it available in
over 50 locations, with the first customers enjoying a great
experience.
"The
security of our network is paramount for BT. We therefore welcome
and are supportive of the clarity provided by Government around the
use of certain vendors in networks across the UK and agree that the
priority should be the security of the UK's communications
infrastructure. We are in the process of reviewing the guidance in
detail to determine the full impact on our plans and at this time
estimate an impact of around £500 million over the next 5
years.
"I'm
really excited about the long-term prospects for this great company
and I'm confident our plans will enable us to be bolder, smarter,
and faster to ensure that we remain successful and create a better
BT for the future."
|
1 Changes on prior year
are presented on an IAS 17 basis where meaningful except for
adjusted EBITDA, which is presented on an IFRS 16 pro forma
basis
2 See Glossary on page
5
n/m = IFRS 16 to IAS 17 comparison not meaningful
|
Nine months to 31 December
|
2019
|
2018
|
2018
|
Change1
|
|
|
(IFRS 16)
|
(IAS 17)
|
(IFRS 16 pro forma2)
|
|
|
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
%
|
|
Reported
measures
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue
|
17,246
|
17,558
|
|
(2)
|
|
Profit before tax
|
1,911
|
2,094
|
|
n/m
|
|
Profit after tax
|
1,526
|
1,646
|
|
n/m
|
|
Capital expenditure
|
2,877
|
2,810
|
|
2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adjusted
measures
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adjusted2 Revenue
|
17,192
|
17,606
|
17,606
|
(2)
|
|
Adjusted2 EBITDA
|
5,900
|
5,553
|
6,100
|
(3)
|
|
Normalised
free cash flow2
|
1,000
|
1,737
|
1,737
|
(42)
|
|
Net
debt2
|
18,234
|
11,114
|
|
n/m
|
Overview of the nine months to 31 December 2019
CUSTOMER-FACING UNIT UPDATES
|
|
Adjusted1 revenue
|
Adjusted1 EBITDA
|
|
Nine months to
|
2019
|
20182
|
Change
|
2019
|
20182
|
Change
|
|
31 December
|
(IFRS 16)
|
(IFRS
16 pro forma1)
|
|
(IFRS 16)
|
(IFRS
16 pro forma1)
|
|
|
|
£m
|
£m
|
%
|
£m
|
£m
|
%
|
|
Consumer
|
7,895
|
7,981
|
(1)
|
1,800
|
1,883
|
(4)
|
|
Enterprise
|
4,550
|
4,804
|
(5)
|
1,458
|
1,516
|
(4)
|
|
Global
|
3,280
|
3,534
|
(7)
|
459
|
428
|
7
|
|
Openreach
|
3,817
|
3,804
|
-
|
2,139
|
2,209
|
(3)
|
|
Other
|
-
|
4
|
n/m
|
44
|
64
|
(31)
|
|
Intra-group items
|
(2,350)
|
(2,521)
|
7
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
Total
|
17,192
|
17,606
|
(2)
|
5,900
|
6,100
|
(3)
|
|
Third quarter to
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31 December
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Consumer
|
2,701
|
2,757
|
(2)
|
620
|
646
|
(4)
|
|
Enterprise
|
1,495
|
1,583
|
(6
|
490
|
513
|
(4)
|
|
Global
|
1,084
|
1,202
|
(10
|
155
|
173
|
(10)
|
|
Openreach
|
1,281
|
1,256
|
2
|
722
|
731
|
(1)
|
|
Other
|
-
|
2
|
n/m
|
(10)
|
(1)
|
n/m
|
|
Intra-group items
|
(782)
|
(818)
|
4
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
Total
|
5,779
|
5,982
|
(3
|
1,977
|
2,062
|
(4)
|
n/m
= not meaningful
Unless otherwise stated, the following commentary relates to the
nine months to 31 December 2019
Consumer
Predicted headwinds from regulation and continued decline in the
fixed base are primary drivers of year on year
revenue1 decline.
This was partially offset by increased handset revenue.
EBITDA1 declined
due to reduced revenue, exacerbated by increased spectrum licence
fees and investment in customer experience, including the
commencement of copper to fibre migration. Excluding the impact of
regulation, revenue was flat year on year and EBITDA would have
grown. In November, BT Sport secured the exclusive rights to UEFA
Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference
League until 2024 and RootMetrics found EE to have the broadest 5G
network. In the latest quarterly Ofcom update, broadband complaints
data for the BT brand was better than the industry average for the
second consecutive quarter.
Enterprise
Revenue1 decreased
due to continued declines in traditional fixed voice usage, with
total fixed voice revenue down £118m, and the impact of
divestments. These declines were partly offset by growth in mobile
revenue, despite tough market conditions, alongside growth in
Voice-over-IP (VoIP), WAN and Ethernet revenue. The
EBITDA1 decline
was driven by the lower revenue, partly offset by lower labour
costs from our ongoing restructuring programme. Excluding the
impact of divestments, revenue and EBITDA decreased by 2% in Q3,
and revenue decreased by 3% and EBITDA decreased by 2% for the nine
months. Order intake in the quarter was down 3% at £0.2bn in
Wholesale and down 13% at £0.7bn in Retail. On a rolling 12
month basis Wholesale order intake was up 11% at £1.1bn and
Retail order intake was up 4% to £3.0bn. During the quarter we
were unable to reach agreement on commercial terms to extend our
MVNO agreement with Virgin Media, which comes to an end in late
2021. In December we reached an agreement to purchase the InLinkUK
units we didn't already own, following the administration of InLink
Limited.
Global
Revenue1 decline
was driven by our strategic decision to reduce low margin business,
divestments and legacy portfolio declines, partially offset by
growth in Security. EBITDA1 was
down in Q3 due to lower revenue and one-off benefits last year,
partly offset by a reduction in operating costs reflecting ongoing
transformation, but was up for the nine months by £31m. Order
intake in the quarter was £1.2bn, up 37% benefitting from a
number of large renewals, including Zurich Insurance Group. On a
rolling 12 month basis it was £4.0bn, up 21% year on year.
During the quarter we agreed the sale of our domestic operations in
Spain. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is
expected to complete in the first half of calendar
2020.
1 See Glossary
on page 5. Commentary on revenue and EBITDA is based on adjusted
measures
2 Segmental
results as reported in the Q3 2018/19 trading update have been
restated to reflect i) the bringing together of our Business and
Public Sector and Wholesale and Ventures customer-facing units into
a single customer-facing unit, Enterprise, on 1 October 2018; the
transfer of our Northern Ireland Networks business from Enterprise
to Openreach and reclassification of certain internal revenue
generated by our Ventures businesses as segmental revenue rather
than internal recovery of cost; (see press release on 17 January
2019) and ii) the change in the allocation of group overhead costs
and the transfer of the Emergency Services Network contract from
Consumer to Enterprise (see press release on 3 July
2019)
Openreach
Revenue1 growth
was driven by higher rental bases in
fibre-enabled2 products
(driven by commercial offers), up 21%, and Ethernet, up 11%, partly
offset by price reductions (from regulation and commercial offers)
and higher service level guarantee payments (due to implementation
of auto-compensation). EBITDA1 was
down, with revenue growth offset by higher operating costs. The
increase in operating costs was mainly driven by higher business
rates, higher salary costs as Openreach invested in more colleagues
to deliver better service, and pay inflation, partly offset by
efficiency savings. Openreach has achieved all of Ofcom's 42
quality of service levels year to date on voice and broadband
services, including FTTC, despite challenging weather conditions in
Q3. Openreach has outlined plans to make FTTP available to 250,000
UK premises across 227 market towns and villages, with building to
commence by the end of the next financial year. This forms part of
its previously stated 4m FTTP build target.
1 Adjusted.
See Glossary on page 5
2
FTTP, FTTC and Gfast (including Single Order
migrations)
FINANCIALS FOR THE NINE MONTHS TO 31 DECEMBER 2019
Income statement
Reported revenue was £17,246m and adjusted1 revenue
was £17,192m, both down 2%, due primarily to ongoing headwinds
from regulation, competition and legacy product declines, partially
offset by increased handset sales in Consumer, growth in new
products and services and higher rental bases of fibre-enabled
products and Ethernet.
Adjusted1 EBITDA
of £5,900m was down 3%2,
mainly driven by the fall in revenue, higher spectrum fees,
investment in customer experience and higher operating costs in
Openreach, partly offset by reduced costs from our restructuring
and transformation programmes.
Reported profit before tax was £1,911m and
adjusted1 profit
before tax was £2,136m, impacted by upfront interest expense
associated with IFRS 16 lease liabilities recognised on 1 April
2019.
Tax
The effective tax rate was 20.1% on reported profit and 20.0% on
adjusted1 profit,
based on our current estimate of the full year effective tax
rate.
Capital expenditure
Capital expenditure was £2,877m (2018/19: £2,810m). This
includes grant funding deferral under the Building Digital UK
(BDUK) programme. Excluding BDUK gainshare, capital expenditure was
£2,859m (2018/19: £2,608m).
Network investment (excluding BDUK gainshare) was £1,412m, up
8%. This reflects continued investment in our Fibre Cities network
build and the rollout of 5G. Other capital expenditure components
were up 12% with £783m spent on customer-driven investments,
£548m on systems and IT, and £116m spent on non-network
infrastructure.
Normalised free cash flow
Normalised free cash flow1 was
down £737m to £1,000m due to increased cash capital
expenditure, the deposit for UEFA club football rights, higher
interest and tax payments and working capital, partially offset by
one-off cash flows.
Net debt and liquidity
Net debt1 was
£18.2bn at 31 December 2019, £7.2bn higher than at 31
March 2019 (£11.0bn), primarily reflecting lease liabilities
recognised on transition to IFRS 16 on 1 April 2019. Excluding
lease liabilities, net financial debt was £1.1bn higher than
at 31 March 2019.
This increase was mainly driven by £1.3bn of contributions to
the BT Pension Scheme, £1.1bn dividend payment, £2.9bn
net capital expenditure, £0.6bn lease payments and £0.5bn
interest payments; partly offset by net cash inflow from operating
activities (excluding pension contributions) of
£5.2bn.
1 See Glossary on page
5
2 Measured against IFRS 16
pro forma comparative period in the prior year
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Regulation
Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review 2021-2026
In January, Ofcom published a consultation on the Wholesale Fixed
Telecoms Market Review (WFTMR), which sets out how it proposes to
regulate Openreach services for the five years from 1 April 2021.
The review marks a change from the previous cost-based regulation,
with Ofcom now looking to support investment in FTTP and a rapid
switchover from copper to fibre.
We welcomed the direction of Ofcom's consultation document as an
important step forward toward enabling us to increase investment in
FTTP to reach millions more homes and businesses across the
country. We broadly agree with Ofcom's proposals on the indexation
of legacy copper services, FTTP anchor pricing, and switchover; but
would like to see more clarity on fair bet. We agree with Ofcom's
overall policy intent but are still assessing the detail of Ofcom's
proposals on Area 3. We are also still working through the
implications of Ofcom's proposals for geographic pricing and
long-term contracts with CPs which underpin the scale FTTP business
case.
Whilst we have taken significant steps forward, there are still
some important outstanding issues to work through. If the fixed
access market regulation is enacted as proposed with some further
refinement, particularly around fair bet and long-term contracts,
and we see progress on business rates, then together with the
progress we are making on the physical build and long-term take-up
discussions with customers, we should be in a strong position to
increase our FTTP build targets, right across the UK.
All-IP
Openreach is committed to migrating CPs to IP voice services and
withdrawing copper-based voice access by December 2025. We welcomed
the proposals made in Ofcom's WFTMR to allow for stop-sell of new
copper lines when 75% of premises in the relevant area have
ultrafast availability and the withdrawal of price controls on
copper services when ultrafast coverage in an exchange area is
complete.
We acknowledge that overcoming challenges posed to vulnerable
customers and critical national infrastructure are key to the
successful withdrawal of copper services. We continue to work
closely with industry working groups, Ofcom and Government to
ensure that key users can continue to receive the services that
they rely on after copper services are withdrawn.
Broadband universal service obligation (USO)
In November, Ofcom published its consultation on the mechanics of
cost recovery under the Broadband USO and all other USOs, setting
out how providers of the USO can apply to recover their costs and
which criteria will be considered. We welcomed the consultation but
think the framework could be simplified to allow USO providers to
be reimbursed promptly.
Consumer fairness
We have continued to work closely with Ofcom to demonstrate our
adherence to the Fairness Commitments that we signed up to last
summer. In particular we have committed to upgrading 700k BT
customers from copper to superfast broadband at no extra cost,
capping broadband out-of-contract price increases, and, for EE
mobile handset customers, introducing a percentage discount after
the end of their contract.
In January, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a
Loyalty Penalty Update, covering mobile and broadband pricing
across industry. On mobile pricing, the CMA criticised all major
mobile operators' plans to address prices for out of contract
handset customers, highlighting their concern that EE's commitment
falls short of switching customers to a comparable SIM-only tariff.
However Ofcom research has shown that this is a complex issue, and
in fact a large proportion of handset customers would pay more if
moved to an equivalent SIM-only deal, so we believe our approach is
fairer. On broadband, the CMA welcomes the voluntary commitments
made by providers but is concerned that their varying nature could
confuse customers and have differing levels of impact on tackling
the loyalty penalty. BT has gone further than other industry
players here, and will continue working with Ofcom to demonstrate
its commitment to fairness.
In December, Ofcom published a consultation on its proposals to
implement the new European Electronic Communications Code. Proposed
requirements on CPs relate to seamless switching processes, locked
handsets, linked contracts, pre-contract information and rights to
exit a contract early, and access to services for vulnerable
customers. A further statement on fixed broadband pricing is due in
March.
In November, Ofcom consulted on best practice guidance for the
treatment of vulnerable customers. BT supports a regulatory
framework which creates better outcomes for vulnerable customers,
and we have set up an industry working group with other CPs to
identify best practice in this area.
Rural mobile network coverage
Work across mobile network operators, DCMS, HM Treasury and Ofcom
is progressing in order to meet a mid-March target to agree certain
aspects of the Shared Rural Network proposal, including DCMS grant
funding arrangements and a variation to our existing 1800 MHz
spectrum licence to incorporate new coverage obligations, including
92% of UK geography within six years. We are actively supporting
this initiative through a commercial proposal to other mobile
operators, enabling them to share our mast infrastructure to meet
their coverage obligations.
Other matters
Clarification on use of certain vendors in 5G and full fibre
networks
In January, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued
guidance to UK Telecoms operators on the use of certain vendors.
The NCSC stated that certain vendors should be excluded from
sensitive 'core' parts of 5G and gigabit-capable networks, and
limited to a 35% presence in non-sensitive parts of the network,
and that legislation would be introduced at the earliest
opportunity.
The new guidance will have some impact on our 5G rollout plans and
the equipment used in our FTTP network build going forwards. We are
in the process of reviewing the guidance in detail to determine the
full impact on our plans. At this time we estimate an impact of
around £500 million over the next 5 years.
Brexit
Following the general election held in December 2019, the
Government has announced its intention for the UK to leave the EU
on 31 January 2020 with a transition period running until 31
December 2020. We have plans in place to ensure that we're prepared
for the final outcome of talks on the future UK/EU relationship,
including the possibility of a disorderly exit from the transition
period that could have a damaging impact on consumer and business
confidence. Our contingency planning is focused on ensuring we can
continue to provide uninterrupted service to our customers,
including sufficient inventory to protect against potential import
delays. We are also making the necessary changes to our contracts
and processes so that we will continue to be able to transfer
customer data to and from the EU.
BT Pension Scheme
In early 2018, the Government made a decision about how benefits
are increased in public sector pension schemes, and by implementing
it in a particular way it created an unintended impact on the BT
Pension Scheme. We pursued a legal process as we believed there are
fairer ways for Government to meet its commitments to public sector
employees without creating this impact on BT's private sector
scheme, and hoped the Government would reconsider the route it
decided to take.
In November 2018 the Divisional Court refused BT's application for
judicial review of the Government's decision. We obtained
permission to appeal the judgment from the Court of Appeal and the
hearing took place on 11 and 12 December 2019. The Court of
Appeal handed down its judgment on 21 January 2020, rejecting our
appeal. While we are disappointed, we accept the Court of
Appeal's decision.
Contingent liabilities
Save for the updates provided below, there have been no material
updates relating to the legal proceedings and regulatory matters as
disclosed in the Annual Report 2019 and our Results for the half
year to 30 September 2019.
Legal proceedings
Italian Business
MPP prosecutions: The first hearings to determine whether or not
the 23 named Defendants should be committed to trial took place in
December 2019 with further hearings scheduled during
Q4.
Brazilian tax claims
The Brazilian state tax authorities have made tax demands on the
exchange of goods and services (ICMS). We have disputed the basis
on which ICMS are imposed and have challenged the rate which the
tax authorities are seeking to apply. During the quarter the nine
ICMS cases which were reported as being at an advanced stage in Q2
were remitted back to the discovery phase at the first judicial
level.
Regulatory matters
Northern Ireland Public Sector Shared Network contract
On 4 April 2019 Ofcom opened an investigation into whether the
award of the Public Sector Shared Network contract for Northern
Ireland to BT complied with relevant significant market power
conditions. We are cooperating with Ofcom's
investigation.
Glossary
|
Adjusted
|
Before specific items
|
|
EBITDA
|
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation
|
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
EBITDA before specific items, share of post tax profits/losses of
associates and joint ventures and net non-interest related finance
expense
|
|
Free cash flow
|
Net cash inflow from operating activities after net capital
expenditure
|
|
Capital expenditure
|
Additions to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets in
the period
|
|
Normalised free cash flow
|
Free cash flow after net interest paid and payment of lease
liabilities, before pension deficit payments (including the cash
tax benefit of pension deficit payments) and specific
items
|
|
Net debt
|
Loans and other borrowings and lease liabilities (both current and
non-current), less current asset investments and cash and cash
equivalents. Currency denominated balances within net debt are
translated into sterling at swapped rates where hedged. Fair value
adjustments and accrued interest applied to reflect the effective
interest method are removed
|
|
IFRS 16 pro forma
|
On 1
April 2019, BT adopted IFRS 16 Leases, which replaced IAS 17
Leases. To aid comparability, pro forma financial information for
2018/19 has been presented to reflect how the results would have
looked like if the accounting standard had been adopted last year
(see press release on 3 July 2019)
|
|
Specific items
|
Items that in management's judgement need to be disclosed
separately by virtue of their size, nature or
incidence
|
We
assess the performance of the group using a variety of alternative
performance measures: adjusted, adjusted EBITDA, normalised free
cash flow and net debt, as defined above. The rationale for using
adjusted measures is explained in note 1 on page 6.
Forward-looking statements - caution advised
Certain statements in this results release are forward-looking and
are made in reliance on the safe harbour provisions of the US
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements
include, without limitation, those concerning: our outlook for
2019/20 including revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow; our
roll out of FTTP; and launch of 5G.
Although BT believes that the expectations reflected in these
forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance
that these expectations will prove to have been correct. Because
these statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results
may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause differences between actual results and
those implied by the forward-looking statements include, but are
not limited to: market disruptions caused by technological change
and/or intensifying competition from established players or new
market entrants; unfavourable changes to our business where Ofcom
raises competition concerns around market power; unfavourable
regulatory changes; disruption to our business caused by an
uncertain or adversarial political environment; geopolitical risks;
adverse developments in respect of our defined benefit pension
schemes; adverse changes in economic conditions in the markets
served by BT, including interest rate risk, foreign exchange risk,
credit risk, liquidity risk and tax risk; financial controls that
may not prevent or detect fraud, financial misstatement or other
financial loss; security breaches relating to our customers' and
employees' data or breaches of data privacy laws; failures in the
protection of the health, safety and wellbeing of our people or
members of the public or breaches of health and safety law and
regulations; controls and procedures that could fail to
detect unethical or inappropriate behaviour by our people or
associates; customer experiences that are not brand enhancing nor
drive sustainable profitable revenue growth; failure to deliver,
and other operational failures, with regard to our complex and
high-value national and multinational customer contracts; changes
to our customers' needs or businesses that adversely affect our
ability meet contractual commitments or realise expected revenues,
profitability or cash flow; termination of customer contracts;
natural perils, network and system faults or malicious acts that
could cause disruptions or otherwise damage our network; supply
chain failure, software changes, equipment faults, fire, flood,
infrastructure outages or sabotage that could interrupt our
services; attacks on our infrastructure and assets by people inside
BT or by external sources like hacktivists, criminals, terrorists
or nation states; disruptions to the integrity and continuity of
our supply chain (including the impact of the guidance issued by
the National Cyber Security Centre as part of its Telecoms Supply
Chain Review in relation to certain vendors (including Huawei), and
any associated future legislation); insufficient engagement from
our people; a disorderly exit from the Brexit transition period;
and risks relating to our BT transformation plan.
BT undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
Notes
1)
Our commentary focuses on the trading results on an adjusted basis,
which is a non-GAAP measure, being before specific items. The
directors believe that presentation of the group's results in this
way is relevant to an understanding of the group's financial
performance as specific items are those that in management's
judgement need to be disclosed by virtue of their size, nature or
incidence. This is consistent with the way that financial
performance is measured by management and reported to the Board and
the Executive Committee and assists in providing a meaningful
analysis of the trading results of the group. In determining
whether an event or transaction is specific, management considers
quantitative as well as qualitative factors such as the frequency
or predictability of occurrence. Reported revenue, reported
operating costs, reported operating profit and reported profit
before tax are the equivalent unadjusted or statutory
measures.
About BT
BT's purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better
world. It is one of the world's leading providers of communications
services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its
principal activities include the provision of networked IT services
globally; local, national and international telecommunications
services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move;
broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged
fixed-mobile products and services. BT consists of four
customer-facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global and
Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2019, BT Group's reported revenue was
£23,428m with reported profit before taxation of
£2,666m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of
the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com
Enquiries
|
Press office:
|
|
|
Tom Engel
|
Tel: 020 7356 5369
|
|
|
|
|
Investor relations:
|
|
|
Mark Lidiard
|
Tel: 020 7356 4909
|
We will hold a conference call for analysts and investors in London
at 9am today and a simultaneous webcast will be available
at www.bt.com/results
We are scheduled to announce the full year results for 2019/20 on 7
May 2020.
Signatures
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
BT Group plc
(Registrant)
By: /s/
Rachel Canham, Company Secretary
--------------------
Rachel
Canham, Company Secretary.
Date
30 January 2020
BT (PK) (USOTC:BTGOF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Nov 2024 to Dec 2024
BT (PK) (USOTC:BTGOF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Dec 2023 to Dec 2024
