BT Quarterly Earnings Falls

LONDON--BT Group PLC (BT) Thursday recorded a fall in quarterly earnings, hit by restructuring costs and lower revenue from business and wholesale services.

The U.K. telecom group's net profit in its second quarter, ended Sept. 30, fell to 446 million pounds ($713 million) from GBP613 million in the same period a year earlier.

BT's closely watched earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, and other exceptionals, rose 1% year-on-year to GBP1.45 billion.

Revenue in the second quarter was down 2% year-on-year on an adjusted basis at GBP4.38 billion. The figure was hit by currency movements, lower transit revenue and disposals, the group said.

Revenue from global services--BT's largest division, which supplies information technology to large multinational companies, organizations and governments worldwide--fell 5%. Wholesale revenue fell 15%.

Still, consumer revenue rose 7% as customers took up its high-speed fiber broadband services.

"Our consumer business continues to perform," said Chief Executive Officer Gavin Patterson.

The telecom incumbent battles with rivals such as British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (BSY.LN), Liberty Global PLC's (LBTYA) Virgin Media and TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC (TALK.LN) for subscribers in the U.K.'s competitive market for so-called triple-play services of fixed telephony, broadband and television. To attract broadband users, BT has spent billions of dollars on premium sports content.

It said the outlook for the year is unchanged.

The group recommended an interim dividend of 3.9 pence, up 15%.

BT shares closed Wednesday at 375.5 pence, valuing the company at GBP30.58 billion.

Write to Simon Zekaria at [e-mail]

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