Company
LON:BT.A
Operating in over 170 countries, BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services.
844 stories · page 6 of 9
The lock-up on Deutsche Telekom’s 12% holding in BT — a legacy of the £12.5bn sale of mobile phones business EE to the FTSE 100-listed firm in 2015 — ended on January 29
Archive
Aside from the tide of blue-chip results, some big second line news will also flow on Thursday from the likes of Britvic, Dairy Crest, Premier Oil, Rank Group, and Renishaw
The jobs — about 1,600 of which will be new roles — are an extension of the company’s largest-ever recruitment drive to hire 6,500 apprentice engineers this year and next
Investments and investor services
A deceptively dull start by the Footsie gradually turned into something a bit more dramatic
Archive
The cream of the corporate updates will likely come from blue-chips BT Group, Royal Mail, Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever and Diageo
Berenberg sees BT's full-year results in May as an opportunity for new boss Phil Jansen to lay out his plan for the business
Nick Jeffery, Vodafone UK’s chief executive said: “We believe that these plans will generate significant benefits for our business and our customers as we move into the digital era of connected devices, appliances and systems on a mass scal
“On one hand dividends and pension constrain investment budgets, on the other, competitors are starting to receive funds for ambitious new builds and are mobilising to avail of duct and pole access regulation,” Deutsche Bank said
Barclays expects BT’s revenues to fall 1.5% and earnings to drop 5.6% in the third quarter
Archive
Never in the FTSE 100's 34-year history has a blue-chip company had women filling the top two executive roles
"This year’s Boxing Day bonanza could be no more than a wicked bear trap set to lure investors into more trouble.”
Archive
There will be some key data from the US and UK at the start of the new year, and Christmas retail trading news will be a dominant focus notably from Next PLC
Following the vote, its Remuneration Committee Chairman invited a broad selection of shareholders and proxy advisory bodies to meet with him to understand their views on executive pay at BT
The Citizens Advice Bureau recently filed a ‘super-complaint’ in which it criticised companies from various industries for taking advantage of loyal customers
BT has said it would not use Huawei's equipment for the core of its 5G service when it is rolled out in the UK amid security concerns
O2 said calls were still working but data connections were broken
The US investment bank also hiked its price target for BT by a third to 320p, implying around 25% upside to its current share price of 261.85p, which was up 2% on Monday’s close
TalkTalk will accelerate its fibre broadband roll-out by setting up a new company called FibreNation
Ofcom said EE and Virgin Media have agreed to change their terms and reduce exit charges
Archive
The value of a conglomerate is almost always less than the combined value of its subsidiaries, which is why firms such as Smiths and Whitbread are spinning off some of their assets
“BT’s recent share price outperformance reflects a solid 2Q result, with EBITDA well ahead of expectations on solid cost execution,” said Barclays
The broadcaster's content library means it has a bundle of assets that could place it in high demand as competition drives consolidation in the media and telecoms markets
The Financial Times website’s Alphaville column said there had been conjecture from multiple sources that Deutsche Telekom "has recently been working with advisors" on a full takeover of its UK rival
Regulated price reductions in the Openreach network and a poor performance in its enterprise businesses dragged revenue lower in the first half
The bank suggested there could be a faster pace of hikes if the UK gets a smooth Brexit deal
Archive
Aside from the BoE interest rate decision, the Day Ahead will also bring updates from the likes of BT Group, Royal Dutch Shell, Smith & Nephew, Shire, Just Eat, and Indivior
Archive
Aside from the oil majors, the slew of blue-chip updates due in the coming week will include global banks HSBC and Standard Chartered, and drugs firms GlaxoSmithKlne and Shire
Hardware & electrical equipment
If last year's schedule is any guide, BT's third quarter results will be released pretty much on the day the new boss, Philip Jansen takes over, so next Thursday's half-year results will be the last post for the outgoing boss, Gavin Patters
Jansen, who is taking over from Gavin Patterson, will earn £1.1mln a year plus an annual bonus of up to £2.64mln
At the close, the UK blue chip index was 41.12 points higher at 7,004.10, the session peak, and well above the early low of 6,995.99
AJ Bell's Russ Mould thinks a break-up of BT is unlikely but expects to see a new strategy for the business from the next chief executive who replaces Gavin Patterson
Ofcom said it had found errors in the coverage data provided by Vodafone and EE relating to 4G and 3G mobile coverage
Sky News reported that Philip Jansen is believed to be the preferred candidate to replace Patterson, who revealed in June he would stepping-down towards the end of this year
The German bank's analysts concluded: “If our base case of a semi-soft Brexit is achieved, this removal of ‘fat tail’ risks should be a positive”
It was around that level most of the day and closed at 7,304 - that's up around 0.37% on the week
Robert Dunne, the head of Verizon's mobile arm in the US, is understood to have met with BT in Britain in recent days
UK price comparison website Uswitch said many telecoms firms raise prices substantially after contracts expire
Archive
For FTSE 100 companies, there was an increase in shareholder rebellions against directors' pay. For FTSE 250, the beef was more to do with directors that many shareholders did not want being re-elected
Hardware & electrical equipment
Topple has signed a new contract with an unnamed reseller based in South East England
Lord Carter has been sounded out as a possible replacement for Gavin Patterson when he leaves later this year, according to Sky News
Numis maintained its 'buy' rating and target price of 325p per share on BT
The news follows BT Sport's failure to secure the rights to broadcast Italian Serie A football matches after BT lost a bidding war to Eleven Sports earlier this month
BT's earnings grew in the first quarter as the group cut costs as part of an overhaul of the business
In London, FTSE 100 added over 38 points to finish at 7,701 - that was up on the week too, marginally - by 0.29%.
Archive
Jefferies reckons the key focus for BT's quarterly results will be on the business and public sector division following a poor performance last year
RBC cut its rating on BT to ‘sector perform’ from ‘outperform’ and lowered its target price to 275p from 385p
BT said telecoms firms that use the Openreach network will receive discounts on fibre broadband that “go beyond” pricing controls set by regulator Ofcom
Archive
In London, FTSE 100 shed 23 points to 7,655, while FTSE 250 shed over 155 points at 20,770
Archive
Over the five sessions in the Week Ahead, around 20% of the FTSE 100 index will report results or issue a trading update, with about half that number due on Thursday alone
In its latest quarterly league table on complaints, communications regulator Ofcom said TalkTalk had received 29 complaints per 100,000 customers while BT received 23
Global sports broadcaster entrant Eleven Sports has dealt a blow to BT and Sky by securing the rights to Serie A and La Liga
In a statement, the FTSE 100-listed telecoms giant said 34.2% - or 2.29bn - of the valid votes cast at the AGM were against the approval of its remuneration report
The UK blue chip index dropped 100 points after the US said it was ready to impose tariffs on an extra US$200bn worth of Chinese goods
The German bank’s analysts noted that the combination of a change in business unit reporting, IFRS15 accounting, and a less prescriptive consensus gathering process, means a wider spread than normal in expectations for BT’s first quarter 20
Archive
The pub chain will be hoping to mitigate any potential drink shortages as the warm weather and England's World Cup performance drive up customer numbers
Archive
Aside from M&S and ASOS, the week ahead will also bring trading updates from the likes of Ocado, Burberry, Barratt Development, Experian, and JD Wetherspoon
Because shares have fallen over the past few weeks, Numis reckons the stock is now just a ‘reduce’, but it has a lot of issues with TalkTalk: namely the collapse of the B2B unit sale and rivals starting to compete better on price
The UK blue-chip benchmark closed up over 45 points higher at 7,593, while FTSE 250 added over 59 points at 20,665.
The IFRS 15 standard was brought in earlier this year so it was closer to FASB’s accounting guidance
According to the Telegraph, BT wants to sell off the division as part of its plan to simplify and modernise its business
The 4.9mln emails were sent between December 2015 and November 2016 promoting three charities: the BT ‘My Donate’ platform, Giving Tuesday and Stand up to Cancer
“Ruling out a dividend cut would be unwise,” Jefferies said in a bullish note on BT
Investments and investor services
FTSE 100 closed up around 23 points at 7,627, while FTSE 250 added over 90 points at 20,926..
Deutsche Bank’s analysts said: “We were a bit early to u/g to Hold after a 30 month Sell but despite the lower share price since, we restrain ourselves from an unsubstantiated positive view"
The move into sports broadcasting and the mobile market were significant developments, but neither has quite panned out how Patterson would have hoped
Announcing the departure, chairman Jan du Plessis, who had only recently come out in support of Patterson, said they both now realised a change of leadership was necessary
Footsie closed out down around 23 points at 7,681 and was also down on the week as a whole, off around 0.26%
The classic red phone box in Kingsbridge, Devon was redundant, but the local council has ‘adopted’ it and turned it into what is believed to be the smallest nightclub in the world
Investments and investor services
Institutions are far from enamoured by the recent performance of boss Gavin Patterson
BT owns the UK's national telecom and broadband network through Openreach, a legally separate division that is used by the firm and its rivals to provide services to consumers
Archive
Both the US and UK are heading towards a three-day weekend and, to be honest, it kind of feels like the break has already begun...
Openreach plans to replace the UK’s ageing copper lines with fibre optic cables to bring faster broadband to three million premises by 2020
BT's boss said fiscal 2018 was a "challenging year" but the company delivered on its strategy
Berenberg has asked why BT decided to keep its dividend at 15.4p for the next two years, given that net debt will now increase by £3bn over this period
Hardware & electrical equipment
BT has outlined £1bn of cumulative regulatory effects over the next three years but UBS believes the bulk of this is known and factored into consensus
BT will offer customers faster internet speeds, more TV content and bring its call centres back to Britain and Ireland by 2020
“Valuations are cheap but with no catalysts, flat free cash flow and no dividend growth, BT’s stock price is likely to stay at these low levels for a while,” Bernstein said
There's an argument to be made that BT would have been better off tapping the market three years ago when its shares were twice as high as they are now, rather than braving it out. John Harrington looks at the FTSE 350 to see whether there
Some investors have asked whether BT's chief executive can survive as he tackles such challenges as regulation, pensions and tough competition
John Karidis is one of the few BT bulls in the Square Mile, and he reckons the telecom giant’s share are worth 325p
Hardware & electrical equipment
If BT's handsome divi is supporting the BT share price, how come it has lost more than a third of its value since Gavin Patterson took over in 2013?
Investments and investor services
The blue-chip index closed around 38 points higher at 7,700
Investments and investor services
Thursday is set to be a busy one for corporate results with the likes of BT Group, Barratt Developments, Next and Supergroup among the day's highlights.
Archive
Aside from the latest Bank of England interest rate decision, the week ahead includes updates from Wm Morrison Supermarkets, Next, BT Group, ITV, and William Hill ...
BT's new chairman Jan Du Plessis is expected to focus on repairing relations with Ofcom as part of the company's strategy
Wholesale-only competition undermines longer-term returns from BT’s Openreach division but it also risks lowering retail pricing
Hardware & electrical equipment
The offer for CityFibre represents a 93% premium to its closing share price on Monday
Concerns about BT's high-cost base and regulatory headwinds have weighed on the shares while Vodafone is facing uncertainty over talks to buy some of Liberty Global's European assets
Sky had the lowest proportion of complaints for its broadband, landline and pay-TV services
"Having brought together our consumer and EE businesses, this is the next step in the simplification of BT's operating model,” said BT’s chief executive, Gavin Patterson
In a note to clients, analysts at the Canadian bank cited a BT convergence focus as the key risk to TalkTalk's market share
A look at some of the biggest risers and fallers in London on Thursday.
The UK bluechip-benchmark closed over 165 points higher at 7,199, while the FTSE 250 added over 311 points at 19,576
The UK blue-chip index finished over 44 points higher at 7,044, but big miners tempered gains
Berenberg raised its rating to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ but cut its target price to 310p from 320p
BT is likely to face renewed pressure to expand its fibre broadband upgrade across Britain
Deutsche Bank has upgraded the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ but left its target price unchanged at 248p
BT Cables is the Manchester-based unit within BT Wholesale that supplies the group’s network subsidiary Openreach with fibre-optic and copper cables
Positive investor sentiment today helped Sky shares rise above the proposed Fox takeover price
Investments and investor services
The blue-chip index closed at 7,214, up 46 points on the day
