Mixed numbers for BT Group

BT has warned that sales and profits are likely to remain under pressure over the year ahead amid a “very challenging and competitive UK market”.

But the former te le co ms monopoly also pledged to increase its target to connectf our million premises with full-fibre broadband by 2020/21, up from a previous goal of three million.

It posted a 2 per cent fall in underlying earnings to £7.4 billion for the year to the end of March and flagged a figure of between £7.2bn and £7.3bn for 2019/20, with a fall of about 2 per cent in adjusted revenues.

On a statutory basis, pretax profits lifted 2 per cent to £2.7bn in the year to March on revenues 1 per cent lower at £23.4bn.

Recently appointed chief executive Philip Jansen said the shareholder dividend payout would remain unchanged for 2018/19 and also for 2019/20 “given our outlook for earnings and cash flow”.

John Moore, senior investment manager at Brewin Dolphin, said: “The big focus for BT was always going to be the dividend – should it be cut to free up capital for investment in full-fibre broadband? Today it has remained unchanged.

“That will be a relief to some investors, but a significant number had said they would back such a move – we’ll only know if it was the right call years down the line.”

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst George Salmon said: “Tough smartphone and broadband markets are hitting the consumer division, and enterprise and global services are having to adapt to rapidly-changing environments. But perhaps the biggest challenge is building out the fibre services the UK wants and needs cost-effectively.

“So while BT’S been lucky enough to have had two of the most action-packed Champions League semi-finals in living memory, it’s easy to see why the focus for… Jansen is on the far less dramatic business of the fibre roll-out.”