BT Ireland Revenues up 4% in 2012/13

BT today announced the results for its all-Ireland operation for the full year to 31st March 2013. Revenue of £739.9 million* was up 4% year on year excluding the impact of foreign exchange. Profit (EBITDA**) was flat year on year, as a result of investment in the delivery of several large retail and wholesale contracts offset by continued cost transformation initiatives.

Colm O’Neill, Chief Executive, BT in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland said,

We have delivered a solid year of growth in revenues and maintained profit and cash flow in a challenging economic environment. We are managing our costs, while making investments in the future of our business to support our customers and to improve our service.
Our fibre investments have helped to make Northern Ireland a broadband leader in Europe. More than 90% of premises are connected to our fibre broadband cabinets and take-up is strong with close to 17% of those homes and businesses experiencing the benefits of faster fibre speeds. This gives us a great platform to bring more exciting services to our customers, including BT Sport this year.

A strong performance by the BT Ireland Consumer division, which operates in Northern Ireland, impacted positively on revenue generation in the year. Take-up of fixed line services among Northern Ireland consumers increased, driven by the reliability and benefits of high-speed fibre broadband. More than half of our broadband customers in Northern Ireland have now selected a fibre broadband service. In the year BT enhanced its product offerings for consumer customers, introducing YouView from BT, as well as adding free Cloud, Wi-Fi and SmartTalk services to its Totally Unlimited Broadband product. Demand for BT’s broadband services is expected to benefit in 2013 from the upcoming launch of BT Sport.

Despite the tough conditions and the continued market trend towards lower contract order values and longer lead times, our Business division increased revenues year on year. In particular, the company made good progress in the public sector, in both Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland, using its strong track record in providing best-in-class technologies for better value. We also recorded double-digit revenue growth in IT services for the fourth year running, and were recognised as the top partner of the year on the island of Ireland by three leading industry brands – Avaya, Cisco and EMC. Amongst the contracts secured during the year were: the Department of Finance & Personnel's contract for the NI Direct strategic partnership to improve the public's access to government services; a network services and infrastructure deal with Lookers; and a data centre architecture and associated services deal with the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust.

BT Ireland’s Wholesale division is the number one wholesaler of fixed line services in Northern Ireland, boosted by BT’s significant investment programme in network infrastructure. BT’s fibre roll-out in Northern Ireland is one of the most rapid in the world, and has reached over 90% coverage with over 823,500 premises passed. The extensive, high speed network is open access, and 24 communications companies are selling fibre broadband services to their customers in Northern Ireland. BT is also introducing new technologies to Northern Ireland as it explores ways to enhance features and reach – this includes trials of ‘fibre-on-demand’ technology in Malone, Belfast, and ‘wireless to the cabinet’ technology on Rathlin Island.

BT successfully delivered the 2013 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in January, its best yet, and has recently renewed its commitment to the exhibition until at least 2016. In the year, the company added 10 Northern Ireland communities to its digital inclusion programme – BT Connected Communities – providing them with the technology and skills they need to get online.