Dominant British fixed-line telecoms company BT Group has reported third quarter earnings growth at the top end of market forecasts, despite a 2.6% decline in revenues.
BT, which still controls over two-thirds of Britain's residential telephone market but has been facing the heat from competitors, said underlying earnings per share rose to 4.4p for the three months to December 31 from 4.1p a year earlier.
Pre-tax profits rose 1% to £526m, helped by lower interest charges and cost cuts. Revenues fell to £4.58 billion.
With its traditional businesses in decline, BT has for the past few years sought to diversify revenue streams from what it calls 'new wave' businesses such as broadband internet and handling the IT needs of corporate clients.
'New wave revenues grew by 31% in the quarter, our highest rate of growth yet. This has offset much of the impact of the 6% decline in our traditional business,' chief executive Ben Verwaayen said in a statement.
BT, which owns Esat in Ireland, said it was adding over 45,000 broadband orders a week, and its broadband volumes were approaching two million lines.
