BT Group announce an interim dividend at 2.31pps
Other financial highlights include:
• Revenue £10.4bn, up 1% due to growth in Consumer and Openreach partially offset by legacy declines in large corporate customers in Enterprise, lower equipment sales in Global and the impact of the BT Sport disposal
• Adjusted EBITDA £3.9bn, up 3% due to revenue growth, continued strong cost control and some one-off items, partially offset by increased energy costs and cost inflation
• Reported profit before tax £0.8bn, down 18% due to increased depreciation from network build and higher specific costs offsetting adjusted EBITDA growth
• Reported capital expenditure £2.6bn, up 2% due to increased Openreach investments in fixed network infrastructure offsetting a decline in spectrum; capital expenditure excluding spectrum payments up 26%
• Net cash inflow from operating activities £2.9bn; normalised free cash flow £0.1bn, down £0.3bn primarily reflecting higher cash capex partially offset by increased EBITDA and working capital movements including stronger collections and movement in sports rights
• Gross IAS 19 deficit of £1.7bn, up from £1.1bn at 31 March 2022 mainly due to the impact of higher real gilt yields partly offset by deficit contributions; BT Pension Scheme roll-forward funding deficit was £4.4bn at end of June 2022, and not adversely impacted by gilt market volatility in late September
• FY23 capex outlook revised from c.£4.8bn to c.£5.0bn due to higher fibre connections and inflation, enabled by a £0.2bn tax refund in October; capex in subsequent years will be c.£4.8bn over remainder of the peak fibre build
• Normalised free cash flow expected to outturn towards the lower end of the £1.3bn-£1.5bn range
