Disorderly brexit could hit customer confidence - BT

Posting a double-digit increase in profits, the telecoms giant said it has prepared for a possible no-deal Brexit and that its contingency planning has been focused on ensuring it can “provide uninterrupted service to our customers, including sufficient inventory to protect against potential import delays”.

“We are also making the necessary changes to our contracts and processes so that we will continue to be able to transfer customer data to and from the EU.

“A disorderly exit could have a damaging impact on consumer and business confidence. It is too early to estimate the size of any potential impact”.

Meanwhile, in the nine months to December 31 revenue slipped 1% to £17.56 billion, which BT blamed on around £180 million worth of regulated price reductions on its Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) and Ethernet products for its Openreach business as well as a poor performance in its enterprise unit.

However, pre-tax profit surged 20% to £2.09bn thanks to lower costs including the settlement of EE acquisition warranty claims and provisions related to its Italian business.

Outgoing CEO Gavin Patterson said he was handing over a firm with “good momentum” and backed the company’s full-year expectations.

“We have continued to deliver consistently against our strategic objectives in a tough market, resulting in another sound quarter of operational and financial performance.

“Our overall outlook for the full year remains unchanged, with EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) around the top end of our guidance for full-year 2018/19”.