BT Group (LSE: BT-A) (NYSE: BT.US) filed its results of the second quarter and half-year to the end of September 2013 this morning, and its share price is currently down just over 1%.
Revenue for the half-year fell 0.5%, to £8,940m, and was flat for the second quarter at £4,491m. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) falling 4% in the second quarter, to £1,434m. The decline in EBITDA is attributed to the company’s investment in its new BT Sport business, but the market was expecting the news, as it was something that BT had previously warned about.
Adjusted earnings per share rose, up 2% in the second quarter, at 6p, and up 3% for the half-year at 11.9p. And the company has announced an interim dividend of 3.4p per share, a rise of 13% on last year’s.
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer Gavin Patterson , said:
“These are good results, with growth in earnings per share and free cash flow. BT Sport has made a confident start and is already delivering for viewers. More than two million of our customers are signed up to it and our wholesale contract with Virgin Media means it is available to around four million homes in total.”
“BT Retail’s Business division again saw good growth in IT services while BT Global Services and BT Wholesale both generated strong order books.
“These are exciting times for the company and we are determined to deliver our strategy with energy and discipline.“
BT’s share price is 365.4p at the time of writing. Despite this morning’s slight dip, that’s up almost 60% so far in 2013, and 73% on this time last year.
