On a net basis, BT added 150,000 standard and superfast broadband customers in the quarter, 60pc of the growth in the overall market. Along with higher BT Sport sales, it meant BT Retail’s consumer business was a star performer, reporting 6pc revenue growth.
Gavin Patterson, BT’s chief executive, said: “Our strategic investments are delivering.
“It was another record quarter for fibre take-up and there are now more than 18 million premises with access to our fibre.”
BT is investing £2.5bn in superfast broadband upgrades that will cover two thirds of the country by spring and benefitting from a controversial £1.2bn Government subsidy to extend coverage to rural areas.
In spite of the outlay, and the £140m share of the cost of launching BT Sport accounted for in the third quarter, ebitda was flat at £1.5bn and the group raised its outlook for the year towards £6.1bn. BT aggressively cut costs under its previous chief executive Ian Livingston and Mr Patterson, who took over in September, has pledged to continue the efficiency drive.
Nevertheless, operating costs were up 2pc as a result of spending on sport and a £17m increase in the cost of running BT’s pension scheme.
Mr Patterson said BT sport had added half a million new direct subscribers during the quarter to bring its total to 2.5 million, with “millions more” able to watch the channels via a wholesale deal with Virgin Media.
The company’s own set-top box was installed in only 53,000 more homes, with most of the new direct BT Sport customers watching via a Sky box. TalkTalk, which reports its third quarter results next week and offers customers a similar internet-based set-top box, has been expanding into new homes more quickly.
There was encouraging news beyond BT Retail. Global Services, the corporate IT division that has dragged on BT’s finances in recent years and was the source of a profits warning just before its revenues began shrinking, reported strong growth in the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. Its revenues were up 3pc and operating profit nearly doubled.
BT reported its strong performance a day after BSkyB impressed investors with its growth in spite of their fierce rivalry.
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