BT rides the broadband subscriber, cost cutting waves again in fiscal Q4

BT's (NYSE: BT) focus on cost cutting and growing broadband subscriber growth continued to pay off in its fiscal fourth quarter as the telco reported pre-tax profits rose by 71 percent year-on-year to GBP 1.7 billion (USD 2.77 billion).

During the quarter, BT said it cut GBP 1.1 million (USD 1.79 million) in costs, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the 12-month period were GBP 5.89 billion (USD 9.6 billion), 4 percent over the same period last year.

One of the biggest contributors to growth in Q4 for BT was a rise in broadband Internet subscribers, a factor that helped to stem ongoing voice subscriber losses.

As expected, BT's retail voice lines declined from 11.113 million to 10.448 million at the end of March.

However, BT broadband subscribership increased 10.9 year over year. At the end of 2010, BT had 5.691 million broadband subscribers, up from 5.132 million it had at the end of 2009.

Ian Livingston, CEO of BT said that BT expects to "continue to grow our profits and free cash flow whilst investing to return BT to growth."

For more:
- see the earnings release

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