A view of BT Group logo displayed on BT tower, in London, Britain, July 21, 2023. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - BT, Britain's biggest broadband operator which also owns the EE mobile network, posted in-line quarterly results, and said its forecast for line losses this year had improved, putting it on track to meet its targets.
BT, which is in the final stages of building its Openreach fibre network across Britain, said on Thursday the network had now reached 21 million premises, and figures showed it was performing better than expected amid tough competition from rival networks such as Virgin Media O2 and CityFibre.
Openreach broadband line losses are now expected at 850,000 for the year, BT said, lower than previous guidance of 900,000, after recording 210,000 in the quarter, an improvement on the previous period.
"With our transformation building momentum, we are delivering ahead of plan," CEO Allison Kirkby said in a statement.
For the three months to the end of December, its third quarter, BT reported a 4% drop in revenue, driven by a drop in service revenue and weaker handset sales.
Adjusted earnings (EBITDA) of 2.1 billion pounds ($2.86 billion) fell 1%, in line with a consensus forecast, after lower revenue was offset by cost savings.
The group is confident of meeting guidance, it said, including a plan for our cash flow to reach 2 billion pounds next year and 3 billion pounds by the end of the decade.
($1 = 0.7343 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate Holton and Paul Sandle)
