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(Bloomberg) -- BT Group Plc’s struggling business segment and weaker phone sales contributed to lower third-quarter revenue as the former British phone monopoly works to refocus on its UK operations.
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Adjusted revenue fell about 3% to £5.18 billion ($6.4 billion) in the quarter ended in December from a year earlier, the London-based phone company said in a statement on Thursday. That compared to the average £5.25 billion estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Chief Executive Officer Allison Kirkby began a turnaround plan last year that involved exiting international markets to focus on the UK. While Kirkby’s cost-cutting measures helped the shares add about 26% in the last 12 months, she faces heavy competition in both the fixed and mobile segments and a flagging business division.
BT’s shares fell 2% to 143.10 pence in London trading at 8:03 a.m.
The company also named a new head of the enterprise unit, Jon James, who was previously CEO of Danish telecommunications carrier Nuuday and will join BT in March. Bas Burger, BT Business’s current head, will work on exploring options for BT’s international businesses.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the third quarter rose 3.7% to £2.1 billion from a year earlier. That compares to the £2.06 billion average estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
The combination of Vodafone Group Plc and CK Hutchison Group’s UK mobile businesses, which is expected to go through later this year, will dethrone BT as the country’s largest operator by revenue. Smaller fiber companies, called alt nets, are also slowly luring customers away from BT’s Openreach with cheaper deals on high-speed broadband service.
Kirkby said last quarter that the company was preparing to carve-out the international business, with all options — including a full sale, partial sale or streamlining the unit internally — on the table.
(Updates with additional details on Ebitda, new business unit head from fifth paragraph)
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