BT Group has reported a 35% year-on-year increase in revenue for the three months ended 30 September 2016, bolstered by the inclusion of turnover from mobile network operator (MNO) EE, which it acquired in January. With BT recording a total turnover of GBP6.007 billion (USD7.89 billion) in the quarter under review, it noted that growth in underlying revenue excluding transit adjusted for the acquisition of EE was, however, up by just 1.1%. Revenue from the group’s Consumer division increased by 11% y-o-y to GBP1.251 billion, it noted, with broadband and TV revenue said to have climbed 17% against the corresponding quarter in 2015. Turnover attributed to EE meanwhile was GBP1.277 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA of GBP1.888 billion represented a 31% y-o-y increase, while underlying EBITDA adjusted for the acquisition of EE was up 0.9%. Depreciation and amortisation in the quarter under review totalled GBP869 million, up 39% largely due to the impact of EE takeover. Reported profit before tax (including specific items) was GBP671 million, representing a 5% annual increase, while adjusted profit before tax increased by an even greater margin, 24% y-o-y, to GBP873 million. BT’s capital expenditure in Q2 2016/17 was GBP802 million (Q2 2015/16: GBP629 million), with this said to consist of gross expenditure of GBP815 million which was reduced by net grant funding of GBP13 million mainly relating to the company’s activity on the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme.
In operational terms, at the end of September 2016 BT’s retail broadband subscriber base totalled 9.193 million, up from 9.117 million at the end of the previous quarter and from 7.879 million a year earlier. Meanwhile, BT reported a total of 4.473 million retail fibre connections at the end of September 2016, up from 3.438 million a year earlier and from 4.257 million at end-June 2016. In the mobile arena, BT reported a total mobile base of 30.445 million, of which 16.448 million were post-paid connections, 7.635 million pre-paid connections, 2.392 million M2M accesses and 3.773 million MVNO subscribers signed up to providers offering services over the EE network.