BT Ireland profits up 11% as cost base ‘transformed’

BT Ireland profits increased 11% in the year to the end of March. The company said there was major investment in fibre network.

Revenue fell by 3% in the year to £749.8 million (€859m). It said this excludes the impact of foreign exchange and transit revenue reductions, “as a result of the challenging economic climate”.

The company said profits were up due to cost transformation programmes and the “successful delivery of large retail and wholesale contracts”.

Gross managed costs, excluding capital expenditure, fell by 11% reflecting, it said improved supplier management, property rationalisation and labour efficiencies.

Chief executive of BT Ireland, Graham Sutherland said: “BT has had a strong year in the Irish market. We continue to transform our cost base, a process we began over four years ago, which is freeing up investment for us to inject into our Irish operations and the services we provide here.”

Mr Sutherland said the company has diversified in the services and products it sells, focused its strategy on the business, government and wholesale sectors and continuously invested in new areas of growth.

It successfully implemented the Emergency Call Answering Service (999/112) for Ireland.