Page 26 - SAMENA Trends - August 2019

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

British Telecom Publishes 1st Quarter Results

BT has delivered results in line with 267k premises passed in the quarter; recognized from 1 April 2019
its expectations for the quarter, with 3.7m ultrafast (FTTP and Gfast) premises Normalized free cash flow1 of £323m
adjusted EBITDA declines in Consumer passed to date down 36% reflecting increased capital
and Enterprise partly offset by growth in Consumer fixed ARPC £37.9 flat year on expenditure and higher interest and tax
Global. year; postpaid mobile ARPC £20.7, down payments, partially offset by working
Key strategic developments: 4.6% on Q1 2018/19 due to the impact of capital phasing
EE successfully launched the UK’s first 5G regulation and lower RPI price increases Reported capital expenditure of £931m up
mobile network in six cities Fixed churn down to 1.3% following 11% primarily due to network investment
BT named the UK’s major broadband customer experience improvements; and customer driven costs
universal service obligation provider by postpaid mobile churn remains at 1.1% Full year outlook maintained, Philip Jansen,
Ofcom EE first in 15 out of 16 RootMetrics tests Chief Executive, commenting on the trading
12 successive quarters of improvement in for mobile network performance update, said. “BT delivered results in line
Group NPS1, up 0.3 points Financial: with our expectations for the quarter, with
Openreach announced updated pricing for Reported and adjusted revenue of £5,633m adjusted EBITDA declines in Consumer
wholesale FTTP broadband and the next down 1% with decreases in Consumer, and Enterprise partly offset by growth in
36 locations in its FTTP rollout Enterprise and Global Global. We are on track to meet our outlook
BT welcomes the Government’s ambition Adjusted EBITDA1 down 1%2 at £1,958m for the full year. “We made good progress
for full fiber broadband across the country driven by lower revenues and higher during the quarter, including launching
and is ready to play its part to accelerate spectrum fees and content costs, the UK’s first 5G network, delivering an
the pace of rollout partly offset by reduction in costs improvement to our group net promoter
Sale of BT Centre agreed for £210m and from restructuring and transformation score for the twelfth consecutive quarter,
lease signed for new headquarters in programmes announcing the first nine cities in our
Aldgate, London Reported profit before tax of £642m and consolidated office footprint, and being
Operational: adjusted1 profit before tax of £749m, named the major broadband universal
Openreach continues FTTP rollout at impacted by the higher upfront interest service obligation provider for the UK.
c.20k premises passed per week with expense on the IFRS 16 lease liabilities “In building a better BT for the future we
need to be even more competitive. We
will continue to take decisive action,
including on price, to further strengthen
our customer propositions and market
position, both to respond to any short-
term market pressures and to capitalize
on longer-term opportunities. “On network
investment, we welcome the Government’s
ambition for full fiber broadband across the
country and we are confident we will see
further steps to stimulate investment. We
are ready to play our part to accelerate the
pace of rollout, in a manner that will benefit
both the country and our shareholders, and
we are engaging with the Government and
Ofcom on this.”

BT in Talks to Sell Ireland Corporate Unit

BT reportedly entered discussions with interest in the technology, media and its core operations. It has already raised
London-based Mayfair Equity Partners telecoms sectors, providing buyout and £209 million through the sale of its London
to sell its corporate business in Ireland, growth capital to businesses. News of headquarters this year, while also selling
in a deal that could be worth more than the potential sale follows speculation last its fleet management business and it is
€300 million. According to Sky News, the week it was eyeing a £100 million sale of in the process of divesting its global legal
discussions are exclusive between the two assets in the Netherlands, which serves software business Tiktak. At home, the
companies, with BT set to ask for more its business customers. The mooted sales company is undergoing a staff reduction
than €300 million for the unit, as it looks are part of new CEO Philip Jansen’s cost- push and lowering office costs.
to cut its heavy debt load. The potential cutting program, with a goal to slim down
buyer, Mayfair Equity Partners, has a keen its global services division and refocus
26 AUGUST 2019