Accounting errors in Italy cost BT £145m

BT has taken a £145m hit after launching a probe into historical accounting errors in its Italian business.

The telecoms giant said a whistle-blower in BT Italia had sparked the investigation and external advisers had been roped in to help.

The multi-million pound write-down cast a shadow on BT’s better-thanexpected second quarter results, which saw revenue rise 1.1pc from a year earlier to £6bn and profits increase 5pc to £671m.

When its acquisition of mobile phone business EE was added to results, revenue jumped 35pc. BT added 63,000 new TV customers in the quarter, while EE saw numbers rise by 280,000.

Chief executive Gavin Patterson would not comment further on the Italian writedown, but said it would not materially affect results.

He also issued a message to competitors, such as Sky and TalkTalk, who have called for BT to be split from Openreach, which looks after the UK’s network of internet cables.

‘We share the same ambition which is to invest more in the infrastructure of the UK,’ he said.

Ofcom has launched a consultation into how best to structure the business.

BT announced an interim dividend of 4.85p, up 10pc.

Shares closed down 2.1pc, or 8.35p to 379.25p.