BT profit jumps despite revenue fall

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 29 Jul 2010 at 10:03

BT's cost cutting appears to have paid off, with the telecoms giant posting a dramatic rise in profit despite a slide in revenue.

Profit before tax leapt 38% to £375 million from the same quarter last year, while revenue slid 4% to £5 billion from last year.

We have made an acceptable start to the year

The results follow cost-cutting plans that affected employee pay and pensions, with a strike avoided following a deal with unions this month.

"We have made an acceptable start to the year, delivering improved financial results while investing in the future of the business," said CEO Ian Livingston.

Livingston said his firm was in talks with the Government over its spending cuts, as a tenth of BT's business comes from public bodies. "Like any customer, we're going to try help them meet their costs, their challenges," he said.

BT said capital spending at its infrastructure arm, Openreach, jumped 16% as its fibre rollout continued. "In July we achieved the first major milestone in our fibre rollout passing over 1.5 million UK premises, and we are now running at an average rate of around 100,000 premises passed per week," BT said.