Bt Share Discussion Threads

[hamhamham1] 13/5/2018 13:57

I am not a big fan of the content race against Amazon, Netflix, Sky et al. Yes its good to have but the focus should be on the actual connectivity for consumers and businesses.
Any upstart can buy content and offer it over the internet. BTs uniqueness is in its infrastructure and overlaid connectivity services. That's what Deutsche or others see as the real appealing value if they try to takeover.
IMO in the future there will be plenty of content providers but only a few can provide the method for delivery. (And all the content providers need their content delivered else no point owning the content).
Kinda like the gold rush times, did the miners get rich or those who supplied the tools for the miners?

[minerve] 13/5/2018 13:10

No No No. Will not do.

Have you seen the phone packages? Data is commoditized. Content is key. BT is becoming a poor National Grid.

[hamhamham1] 13/5/2018 12:51

Well just on the consumer business and ignoring the business to business aspect, BT now have EE which has added to there growth, see EEs figures for year end Dec 2015 below:

EE hits 2015 targets; delivers 14m 4G customer base, 28.2%+ adj. EBITDA1 margin; market leading revenue; remains Europe’s largest 4G operator.

Full Year highlights:

Total network connections grew 1.8% to 31.5m (Q4 2014: 30.9m), with Q4 postpaid customer net additions of 141k.
Adj. EBITDA grows 12.1% year-on-year (yoy) to £1,781m, a margin of 28.2% (FY 2014: 25.1%), due to favourable trading mix.
Retained mobile service revenue market leadership. Operating revenue steady at 1.1% yoy excluding regulation, while 0.6% down including the impact of regulation.
Maintained network leadership through sustained investment and innovation.

Review of the year:

EE reached its 2015 targets with more than 14m 4G customers at the year’s end, achieving strong postpaid net additions, with Q4 customer growth of over 140k. A robust Sim-only performance in the face of a subdued smartphone market contributed to reduced costs, driving improved margins.

Continued investment in network and 4G leadership extended 4G coverage2 to 95%, supporting growth in the total number of 4G corporate accounts to over 9,100 (+30% yoy). The Government award of the Emergency Services Network (ESN) contract will see EE expand its network capability, and through 4G LTE provision, improve the communications capability of the UK’s emergency services. The ESN will require new investment and increased operating costs from 2016, with revenues not anticipated to start until H2 2017.

2015 operating revenue remained steady at just over £6bn with underlying revenues up 1.1% yoy, but down 0.6% when including regulatory impact. Regulatory pressures are expected to increase through 2016, with higher spectrum licence fees as well as reduced roaming rates and mobile termination rates all expected to impact financials from 2016 and beyond.

4G subscribers almost doubled in 2015, with a strong uptake of mobile broadband. Postpay churn remained low at 1.1%, as customer satisfaction metrics continued to improve.

Marc Allera, CEO EE, commented, “2015 was an exceptional year for EE, as we met and exceeded 4G targets, won multiple awards for our network performance, and improved our customer satisfaction scores. As part of BT, we’re entering the next chapter of EE’s journey, and look forward to a phenomenal opportunity to innovate for the benefit of our customers, while continuing to build and enhance the UK’s digital infrastructure.̶1;

[pacemaker1000] 13/5/2018 12:49

Positive is ALL BT’s dirty laundry is now out in the open and I believe already built in to price prior to results day.
But it is so unloved who knows. Divi of 7% for three years should see big investors pouring in especially given the already deflated SP

[hamhamham1] 13/5/2018 12:15

IMO even if they do just what they currently do but better then thats enough to double the share price.
Time will tell.

[minerve] 13/5/2018 12:01

And what is the growth based on? What is going to grow the company?

What is going to change from here to then?

[montyhedge] 13/5/2018 11:51

GSK have not risen their dividend for 4 years. BT 7% yield for two years, then GP said growth expected in 2020. 13,0000 jobs cuts, can't increase dividends yet, would not look good.BT could be the bargain of the year.

[hamhamham1] 13/5/2018 11:38

How many other ftse100 companies could you see being potentially worth double the current share price in say 2 or 3 years are there?

[minerve] 13/5/2018 11:37

Dividends are frozen for three years careful. I read somewhere. So with inflation it isn't a progressive dividend and will not be yielding 7%.

[careful] 13/5/2018 11:34

If we take an optimistic view, then the known vastness of the problems give BT a huge opportunity for improved performance.
And we start with a PE of 10 and a yield of 7%.

[hamhamham1] 13/5/2018 11:27

Old systems are common place in any big business which is over 30 or 40 years old. You would be amazed what is still functioning out there in many big companies.
If BT can adopt management and work practices more akin with Deutsche T. Then leveraging BTs huge infrastucture and customer base then this company will fly again.
It is very fixable IMHO.

[toon1966] 13/5/2018 11:24

Careful - I really wouldn't read too much into the article. But let's hope the 'source' is offered VR.

[careful] 13/5/2018 11:15

Just read the article above.
what a shambles BT is, and I have a significant holding.

The problems are at least now out in the open.
A massive trimming of staff is required and lots of investment updating old systems.
Then there is the heavy weight of the pensions holding BT back.

Patterson will only survive if he becomes more dynamic, no more Mr. Nice guy.
Serious work to be done.
Too many in the lifeboat and everyone drowns.

[toon1966] 13/5/2018 11:11

Have to say it's rather sad and in-keeping with this article, that the main source has in 20 years of employment at BT not bothered asking what CSS stands for! It actually stands for Customer Service System and I first used it in 1988-89.

[nige co] 13/5/2018 10:36

The 13,000 'savage' layoffs at BT could be preparing the company for a sale, insiders say

[hamhamham1] 13/5/2018 08:43

A bit of old-ish news but theres money in security and DDoS protection aspect is getting more and more popular with companies finding it vital to keep their internet front end up and running.
A lot of the time the DDoS protection provider (eg BT) will reroute inbound internet traffic when a DDoS attack is detected from initially hitting the client company's load balancers and webservers direct. The DDoS protection provider will suck all the inbound traffic to them first, clean it up then forward the good traffic on to the client company's load balancers and webservers. This takes a lot of monitoring to get a good baseline to detect real DDoS anomalies and to react and then divert traffic. Some companies just leave it permanently redirected so the scrub is always on. But once you have companies signed up and on-board they usually stay to maintain stability and service levels. Great revenue stream.

Note, and these additional services are sold alongside BT providing the client company with an internet connection which could bring BT tens of thousands of pounds a year on its own. Larger companies tend to have several internet connections provided by different ISPs for resilience.
Or seperately client companies may have multiple offices and BT provides private connectivity (MPLS is popular) to join the offices up, again thousands of pounds a year for BT.
There are so many other revenue streams throughout BT that get missed as people just look at the broadband and landline business. Now with EE on-board that's even more just in that same consumer level of the market. That's me done for the day, sorry for going on about the other stuff :)

[toon1966] 13/5/2018 08:35

Pressures on Gavin -

[hamhamham1] 12/5/2018 06:28

I agree with a previous post that Deutsche Telekom and BT could merge, to create a partnership, and leverage the best of both worlds to create a huge player.

[nicholasblake] 11/5/2018 22:56

Two points:

1. If the div had been cut, under the current regulatory guidance the pension scheme would have had its hand out to gobble all the saving, and used it to buy overpriced bonds (i.e. dead money); and

2. I really do think the fibre to the premises roll out has extraordinary upside, but one shouldn't underestimate the resource strain from the work programme involved. I think the City is being naive in thinking things can be done much bigger and faster. CityFibre has talked a good game, but I suspect its new owners are going to found out the hard way that walking the walk is a lot harder than they realise!

[diku] 11/5/2018 22:05

Anybody think a merger deal with either Deutsche Telekom or US AT&T would be a good fit...

[diku] 11/5/2018 21:55

When you announce 13000 job loses...staff looking at each other thinking who is it going to be...staff morale could well suffer...if you are forced to leave or getting a sweetner then do you care?...I think GP will voluntarily step down or be forced by the board within the next 6 months...since the Italian saga it has been a downer...

[pacemaker1000] 11/5/2018 19:34

As an employee I can only confirm that internally BT is a mess and always has been.
As far as getting end user installs and fixes are concerned. that lies with the inept work management tool that BT has spent millions on, and continue to do so, which sees engineers zig zagging across the country.