Citing a “challenging” regulatory environment and lower pricing, BT reported that its quarterly group revenues decreased by 2% year on year to GBP 4.568 billion. New wave initiatives, especially broadband and enterprise solutions generated a 25% increase in turnover in the quarter to GBP 761 million compared to the prior quarter . However, this strong growth was more than offset by a 6% decline in turnover from the group’s traditional business. BT blamed a substantial proportion of the decline in traditional turnover on regulatory changes, especially reductions on fixed to mobile termination rates. Other regulatory changes affected private circuits and directory enquiries. Some major highlights:
- free cash flow improved 6% to GBP 585 million
- earnings per share improved by 19% to 4.4 pence
- BT was serving 1.5 million wholesale ADSL lines as of 31-October-2003, more than triple the number of connections 12 months ago.
- BT’s market share of fixed to fixed voice minutes declined from the first quarter by 0.8% points to 41.2% with this level of decline being similar to the experience in the first quarter.
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