BT profits drop 45 per cent

BT has reported a massive hit to its profits over a six month period this year, falling by a dramatic 45 per cent.

The telecoms company reported profits of 547 million in the six months leading up to 30 September, compared to 991 million for the same period last year.

Ian Livingston, chief executive of BT, remained confident of the business' performance and praised the progress made in reducing overheads.

"We have had another quarter of progress but there remains a lot more to do," he said in a statement.

"With total cost reductions of over 900 million in the first half, we have made significant headway towards our previous target of well over 1 billion for the full year. We now expect to generate at least 1.6 billion of free cash flow this year, compared with our previous target of over 1 billion."

A lot of the cost savings have come from the sizeable job cuts the company made throughout the year, mostly from its struggling Global Services division, which showed a drop in revenues of three per cent.

Livingstone concluded: "We are investing in the future of the business with an enhanced and accelerated programme of fibre deployment and wider roll out of faster broadband speeds, all within our capital expenditure plans."