BT profits slump as broadband numbers hit new heights

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 12 Feb 2009 at 07:54

BT has announced pre-tax profits have fallen by 81%, despite impressive growth in the company's broadband customer base.

BT's profits were largely sunk by the company's Global Services division. The company announced last month that it was taking a £340 million charge on Global Services, as it looks to restructure the ailing arm of the business.

Excluding the one-off charge, the company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are down by only 9%.

On the bright side, the company still continues to add subscribers to its broadband packages, despite stiff price competition from rivals such as Carphone Warehouse and Sky.

BT added 83,000 new subscribers to its retail broadband services, underlining its position as Britain's biggest ISP with 4.7 million customers.

The company's IPTV service, BT Vision, is also creeping up in popularity: it now has just shy of 400,000 customers.

BT's earnings statement also makes a fleeting mention of 21CN - the now almost forgotten nationwide network upgrade that will, amongst other things, deliver ADSL2+ broadband at speeds of up to 24Mb/sec.

The company says it "continued the roll out of our 21st Century Network (21CN) supported next-generation broadband and Ethernet services during the quarter," without detailing exactly how much progress it's made.

The latest figures from SamKnows Broadband suggest that only 145 out of 5,592 telephone exchanges have been upgraded so far.