BT has unveiled plans to return the operator to sales growth by 2013, as well as invest an additional GBP 1 billion in rolling out fibre in the UK. In its annual results announcement, the company said it expects sales in the year to March 2011 of around GBP 20 billion, versus the GBP 20.9 billion reported for the past year, while adjusted EBITDA, after staff reduction costs, should be stable versus last year's GBP 1.53 billion, helped by around GBP 900 million in cost reductions. Free cash flow, before one-time items, is estimated at GBP 1.8 billion this year, down slightly from GBP 1.93 billion in the year to March 2010. Looking further ahead, BT said it expects to return to underlying revenue growth in the year to March 2013, and for adjusted EBITDA to grow over the period 2010-13. Free cash flow is expected to reach GBP 2 billion by fiscal year 2012-13, including a positive operating cash flow at BT Global Services by 2011-12. The company also promised "progressive" dividends in the coming years, after hiking the 2010 pay-out to 6.9p per share from 6p a year earlier. This comes in addition to a pledge to spend a further GBP 1 billion to extend its fibre network to around two-thirds of British premises by 2015, while maintaining the annual capex budget at around GBP 2.6 billion. Its profit outlook for this year includes a planned GBP 20 million spending mainly in fibre, new consumer propositions such as expanded TV services and expansion in the Asia Pacific region. BT also announced plans to launch online gaming services in the UK, helped by a partnership with California-based OnLine, in which BT acquired a 2.6 percent stake.
For the fourth quarter to 31 March, BT reported revenues down 2 percent from a year earlier to GBP 5.356 billion and an improvement in EBITDA to a profit of GBP 1.341 billion versus a loss of GBP 391 million a year ago. Pretax profit came in at GBP 251 million versus a loss GBP 1.316 billion, and EPS was 2.7p versus a negative 13.1. BT Retail posted quarterly sales down 4 percent to GBP 2.064 billion, while EBITDA improved 6 percent to GBP 470 million. The company added 123,000 broadband customers in the quarter, the highest net adds in two years, and claimed a retail market share of 44 percent. Consumer ARPU improved to GBP 309 per year, up by GBP 8 over the previous quarter thanks to take-up of multi-product offers. The BT Vision customer base grew to 467,000 at 31 March, with the average number of subscription views per month per subscriber increasing by 37 percent over last year to 40. BT Global Services recorded a 2 percent drop in revenues to GBP 2.292 billion, while adjusted EBITDA improved to GBP 177 million from GBP 32 million a year ago. Excluding foreign exchange movements, underlying revenue was flat in the quarter. Total order intake was GBP 2.2 billion, significantly up on the third quarter, leading to a full-year order intake of GBP 6.6 billion. BT said Global Services has cut underlying costs by 6 percent over the past year, including 5,900 jobs.
