BT warns over poor Global Services performance

UK carrier BT has issued a profit warning, blaming the weak performance of its international services division.

The company said that for the quarter that ended September 30, group revenue is forecast to be ahead of expectations but EBITDA and earnings will be slightly below expectations. 

The retail, wholesale and Openreach units are expected to deliver the goods, but BT Global Services is expected to post “disappointing” results.

Ian Livingston, chief executive of BT, said, “We expect revenue growth in this division will remain strong, up 15 per cent year on year, but EBITDA of around £120 million will be significantly below expectations. The fall in EBITDA is due to slower than anticipated delivery of efficiency savings and the continued decline in higher margin UK business.”

BT said that its Global Services unit already has a number of cost efficiency and margin improvement initiatives in place, and the company is now focused on speeding up the execution of these initiatives.

The UK firm is due to announce its results on November 13.