British Telecommunications Plc has reported first quarter pre-tax profits up 11.3% to UKP825m, although call volumes for the quarter grew by just 3% for inland and 5% for international calls. Chairman Iain Vallance attributed the profit rise to continued emphasis on cost control – which includes 3,700 job losses in the quarter. Turnover grew by 4.2% to UKP3,342m, with turnover from inland calls 5.2% higher than in the first quarter last year and revenues from international calls only slightly higher. Reflecting last year’s price rebalancing, when BT reduced call costs but put up the cost of line rentals and connections, turnover from exchange line rentals has grown by 15.4% this quarter, to UKP509m. This is despite the fact that the number of connections throughout the year to June has grown by just 2%. The only area of British Telecom’s business which appears to have been significantly affected by the recession is customer premises equipment – PABXs and such, revenues for which are down by 9.5% in the quarter to UKP305m.
