BT’s quarterlies show mild revenue decline, but 1 million new fibre builds

That’s an average build rate of 78k per week, says BT, and its FTTP footprint now stands at 15 million with 4.2 million rural premises passed and around a further 6 million where initial build is underway.

Its FTTP customer base surpassed 5 million during the quarter with orders up 29% year-on-year and net adds of 387k. Openreach broadband ARPU grew by 6% year-on-year thanks to price rises and increased volumes of FTTP, but it clocked broadband line losses of 196k, ‘with moderately higher competitor losses combined with a weaker overall broadband and new homes market.’

Its broadband base was down 28k quarter-on-quarter (a 0.3% decline) and its postpaid mobile base was down 15k (a 0.1% decline).

Consumer broadband ARPU was up 1% year-on-year to and consumer postpaid mobile ARPU increased 0.5%.

Openreach adjusted revenue was up 2%, though its business division was down 5% and its consumer group down 1%. Overall adjusted revenue was down 2%, which BT says was due to legacy managed contract declines, reduced low margin sales activity and contraction in business division, and ‘a continued shift to mobile SIM only and a lower CPI benefit in a competitive market in consumer.’

Adjusted EBITDA for Openreach was up 6%, but consumer and business groups were both down 2%. Overall, reported profit before tax of £520 million was down 3%, but adjusted EBITDA of £2.1 billion was up 1% thanks to ‘transformation and tight cost control, including lower staff costs, partly offset by revenue decline.’

“We’ve made a solid start to the year, with excellent growth in both fibre build and connections, and increased EBITDA,” said Allison Kirkby, Chief Executive of BT. “Openreach continues to build at pace and with even more efficiency, passing the milestones of 5 million connections and - just yesterday - 15 million premises built. In Consumer, the widespread availability of FTTP and 5G combined with our new EE propositions has contributed to an improved trend in our customer base, in what remains a very competitive market.

“In Business, we also saw improved trends, as we continue to modernise our portfolio and our operations towards a simpler business, delivering secure, cloud-based connectivity and communication services for all our customers. Our ongoing cost transformation contributed to EBITDA growth, and more than offset the expected revenue declines in Consumer and Business in the quarter.

Looking forward, BT says it is reconfirming all FY25 financial outlook metrics. Kirkby added: “There is much more to do to simplify BT Group and deliver for our customers. We remain on track to deliver our financial outlook for this year and our cash flow inflection to c. £2.0bn in 2027 and c. £3.0bn by the end of the decade.”

Since Kirkby took over the reins at BT, the messaging has been all about its transformation plan. In its FY 2024 results posted in May, global operations appeared to drag down the headline financials, and emphasis seemed to be about concentrating on the UK as a strategy going forward. Momentum in its fibre rollout to the tune of 1 million premises passed a quarter will no doubt be held up as a win in that regard, even if the overall numbers aren’t exactly barnstorming.