The UK incumbent has now won an army of fans in the financial community for its concentration on the bottom line. Chief executive Ben Verwaayen said : We are not looking for revenue growth, we are looking for profitable growth.
On a comparable basis, net income in the first quarter rose net income rose 40.2% to 331m pounds ($539.5m) on revenue 0.9% higher at 4.77bn pounds ($7.78bn). For the year, net income increased 65.2% to 1.2bn pounds ($2bn) on revenue that rose 1.5% to 18.7bn pounds ($30.5bn).
The actual figures present a totally different picture because they cover a period when BT exited its Concert alliance with AT&T, de-merged its mmo2 mobile arm and sold off substantial assets to cuts its debt burden.
They show that in the fourth quarter to March 31, net income was 1.6bn ($2.6bn), up from a loss of 2.59bn ($4.2bn) on revenue 0.9% higher at 4.7bn pounds ($7.78bn). For the year, net income was 2.68bn pounds ($4.4bn), up from income of 995m pounds ($1.6bn) on revenue 8.9% lower at 18.7bn pounds ($30.5bn).
The one shadow hanging over the UK incumbent is a 6.3bn pounds ($10.3bn) pension fund deficit. However, the company’s net debt, which led to the departure of the previous management teams, fell 4.4bn pounds ($7.2bn) over the year and now stands at 9.6bn pounds ($15.6bn).
As BT is now viewed as a rather dull if profitable utility, there have been extensive rumors that it would seek to buy back its former mobile arm mmo2 Plc, to ensure strong annual growth. However, Verwaayen indicated that BT is intent on becoming a virtual mobile operator. You don’t need to own the mobile operator to be able to bundle for your customers, he said.
BT is blazing a path that is now being followed by Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA, which both followed its example by parting company with senior executives whose growth ambitions left them mired in debt.
Source: Computerwire
