BT Group has reported revenue of GBP 5.25 billion for the three months to 30 June, down 7 percent mainly due to the impact of Covid-19, including a drop in enterprise business activity and reduced BT Sport revenue.
Adjusted EBITDA for the 1st quarter was GBP 1.81 billion, down 7 percent on the fall in revenue and continued investment in customer experience, offset partially by actions to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and cost savings from the transformation programmes. Reported profit before tax was GBP 561 million, down 13 percent, due to lower EBITDA, higher interest expense and higher depreciation/amortisation charges; offset partly by the sale of its operations in Spain. Capital expenditure for the quarter was broadly flat at GBP 927 million. For full-year 2020/21, BT Group is forecasting adjusted revenue down 5-6 percent, adjusted EBITDA of GBP 7.2-7.5 billion; and reported capital expenditure of GBP 4-4.3 billion.
Consumer fixed ARPC was GBP 36.40 for Q1, down 4 percent year-on-year on continued market competition and a fall in BT Sport revenue. Post-paid mobile ARPC was GBP 19.60, down 5 percent on lower roaming and out-of-bundle revenues, and continued trend towards SIM-only. The number of RGUs per address was 2.41. Post-paid mobile and fixed churn were both down to 1 percent in Q1 as a result of low market activity during lockdown. Openreach has continued its FTTP roll-out with 3 million premises now passed with FTTP and on track to reach 4.5 million by March 2021.
BT Consumer revenue (adjusted) for the quarter was GBP 2.36 billion, down 7 percent from GBP 2.55 billion a year earlier, with adjusted EBITDA of GBP 501 million, down 15 percent from GBP 588 million. The Enterprise division had revenue of GBP 1.35 billion, down 9 percent from GBP 1.48 billion a year earlier, with adjusted EBITDA of GBP 406 million, down 13 percent from GBP 465 million. The Global services division saw revenue fall 9 percent year-on-year from GBP 1.08 billion to GBP 990 million, with adjusted EBITDA up 1 percent from GBP 140 million to GBP 141 million. Global revenue decline was driven by the impact of Covid, the sale of operations, removal of low-margin business and legacy product decline; offset partially by a GBP 6 million positive impact from foreign exchange movements.
Openreach revenue for Q1 was GBP 1.28 billion, up 1 percent from GBP 1.27 billion, with adjusted EBITDA up 2 percent to GBP 729 million, from GBP 717 million. Revenue growth was driven by higher rental bases in fibre (up 19%) and Ethernet (up 10%), offset partially by a decline in legacy products and price reductions. Take-up of FTTP was impacted by lockdown, but has now started rising again with 10,000 orders in a single week in June, primarily through the BT Consumer unit.
