BT's football gains tempered by other divisions

BT added 122,000 television users and 152,000 broadband customers, meaning it ended the period with 1.7m of the former and 4.5m of the latter. Average revenue per consumer rose about 9 per cent to £38.30 a month, driving consumer revenue up a tenth to £2.4bn. Underlying global services revenue rose as large one-off equipment sales and strong demand for call-routing services in the UK offset fewer orders. The segment inked a contract with tyre titan Michelin to provide managed network services in 43 countries, and renewed its contract with Unilever for connectivity, communications and regional data centres, spanning 700 sites in 96 countries.

EE's underlying sales and profit flatlined as regulatory price reductions outweighed strong growth in 4G usage and a steady customer base. Underlying sales slid 5 per cent at BT's business and public sector division, reflecting a depressed public sector backdrop. And underlying sales were flat and profit dipped at Openreach, which owns the wires and cables that connect more than 20m homes to the national telephone and broadband network. Management estimates regulatory price cuts reduced divisional turnover by £110m over the half.

BT plans to extend its fibre broadband and 4G networks in the UK in the coming years, and add over 1,000 domestic customer service roles within the next six months. However, a lower discount rate meant its pension deficit swelled by more than half to £9.5bn in the space of three months. And government officials are pressuring BT to invest in Openreach, make it independent and open up its infrastructure to competitors, or else sell the division entirely.

Ahead of these results, broker Jefferies expected adjusted pre-tax profit of £3.7bn for the year to March 2017, giving EPS of 30.2p, up from £3.47bn and 33p in FY2016.