BT Group: Trading update for the three months to 30 June 2023

Philip Jansen, Chief Executive, commenting on the results, said    

“We’ve made a strong start to the year, in what remains a very competitive market, with improved customer satisfaction, pro forma revenue growth in all of our business units and pro forma group EBITDA up by 5%. Openreach is now 44% of the way through its full fibre build, and customer demand has continued to grow with a total network take-up rate of 32%. Consumer is seeing solid pro forma growth driven by pricing and mix, as customers choose higher performance connections; and Business grew its order book, driving revenue growth for the combined unit. We continue to drive transformation across the group, and while there remains much to do it’s clear that our strategy is working and BT Group is set up for success.”

Strong start to the year:

• FTTP footprint expanded to 11m premises, 44% completion of 25m target, with a further c.6.2m where initial build is underway; 718k premises passed in the quarter at an average build rate of 55k per week
• Customer demand in Openreach for FTTP increased with Q1 orders up 34% year-on-year and net adds of 383k, bringing network take-up rate to 32%; total FTTP connections grew to 3.5m
• Openreach broadband ARPU grew by 10.2% year-on-year due to price rises and increased volumes of FTTP; Openreach broadband base down 126k in Q1 due to competitor losses combined with a weak broadband market and communications providers ceasing copper lines; we continue to expect the Openreach broadband base to decline by around 400k in FY24
• Consumer broadband ARPU increased 5% year-on-year to £42.0 and Consumer postpaid mobile ARPU increased 9% year-on-year to £19.7, both driven by CPI-linked pricing; churn remains stable for broadband and postpaid mobile at 1.1% and 1.0% respectively
• Retail FTTP base grew year-on-year by 50% to 2.0m of which Consumer 1.9m and Business 0.1m; 5G base 9.2m, up 53% year-on-year
• Business performance reflects positive momentum in SMB but declines in CPS, Global and Wholesale due to higher input costs and legacy high-margin managed contract declines
• Continued focus on customer satisfaction and delivery of excellent value for money with BT Group NPS of 23.7 up 1.8pts year-on-year

Continued pro forma revenue and EBITDA growth:

• Pro forma adjusted¹ revenue £5.2bn, up 4% on Q1 FY23 due to increased fibre-enabled product sales and  price increases in Openreach, increased service revenue in Consumer with 2023 annual contractual price rises being aided by higher FTTP base and higher roaming, and improved equipment trading in Business, offset partially by legacy product declines; reported revenue was up 1%
• Pro forma adjusted¹ EBITDA £2.0bn, up 5% with revenue flow through and cost control more than offsetting cost inflation; Business EBITDA decline due to increased input costs and legacy high-margin managed contract declines
• Reported profit before tax of £536m, up 11% primarily due to EBITDA growth partially offset by specific items
• Reconfirming all FY24 outlook metrics