BT Group’s first quarter of financial year 2025 covered the three months to 30 June 2024. Adjusted revenue fell 2% year on year to £5.052 billion, while adjusted EBITDA rose 1% to £2.061 billion. Chief executive Allison Kirkby called it “a solid start to the year”; that was management’s assessment, not evidence that BT beat analyst expectations.
What BT reported for the quarter
BT published its trading update on 25 July 2024. The figures below are company-reported and compare with the same quarter a year earlier. Adjusted measures are before specific items under BT’s definitions; reported revenue is a separate measure.
| Measure | FY25 Q1 | Year-on-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Reported revenue | £5.1bn | Down 2% |
| Adjusted revenue | £5.052bn | Down 2% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | £2.061bn | Up 1% |
Revenue measures sales; adjusted EBITDA is a measure of operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, excluding specific items under BT’s definition. Their movements can diverge: a business can generate more earnings from a lower revenue base if costs fall sufficiently.
Why revenue fell while adjusted EBITDA grew
BT attributed the revenue decline to pressures in Consumer and Business. In Business, it cited declines in legacy managed contracts, less low-margin sales activity and contraction in its portfolio unit. In Consumer, it pointed to the continued shift to mobile SIM-only plans and a lower CPI benefit in a competitive market.
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The company said ongoing cost transformation more than offset the expected Consumer and Business revenue declines, contributing to adjusted EBITDA growth. That is BT’s explanation of the results; the figures alone do not establish how much each factor contributed.
How the three main segments performed
BT’s adjusted segment results show different pressures and strengths across the group.
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| Segment | Adjusted revenue | Adjusted EBITDA | Notable operating measures or context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Openreach | £1.933bn | £1.021bn | FTTP footprint reached 15m premises; 387,000 FTTP net adds; 34% take-up; 196,000 broadband line losses |
| Consumer | £2.399bn | £659m | Broadband ARPU £42.4, up 1%; postpaid mobile ARPU £19.8, up 0.5%; broadband base down 28,000 and postpaid mobile base down 15,000 quarter on quarter |
| Business | £2.027bn | £386m | Legacy managed-contract declines, reduced low-margin sales activity and portfolio-unit contraction; partly offset by cost transformation |
Openreach: fibre rollout alongside line losses
Openreach passed more than one million premises with full-fibre broadband in the quarter, taking its FTTP footprint to 15 million premises. Its FTTP customer base exceeded five million, with 387,000 net additions and 34% take-up. Broadband ARPU grew 6% year on year, but broadband line losses were 196,000. The rollout and connection figures are positives for network expansion; line losses show that a larger fibre footprint did not mean every broadband customer trend was positive.
Consumer: higher average revenue, smaller customer bases
Consumer broadband ARPU rose to £42.4, up 1% year on year, and postpaid mobile ARPU reached £19.8, up 0.5%. However, its broadband base declined by 28,000 and its postpaid mobile base by 15,000 quarter on quarter. ARPU is average revenue per user: it can rise even while customer numbers fall, so the two measures describe different aspects of performance.
Business: declines that cost savings partly offset
Business generated £2.027 billion in adjusted revenue and £386 million in adjusted EBITDA. BT linked the segment’s pressure to shrinking legacy managed contracts, lower low-margin sales activity and contraction in its portfolio unit; it said cost transformation partly offset those effects.
What “solid” does—and does not—tell investors
Kirkby’s wording reflected the company’s view of the quarter: “We’ve made a solid start to the year, with excellent growth in both fibre build and connections, and increased EBITDA.” She also said cost transformation contributed to EBITDA growth and more than offset expected revenue declines in Consumer and Business.
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The mixed scorecard is more informative than the adjective: adjusted revenue contracted, adjusted EBITDA grew modestly, Openreach expanded fibre connections, and Consumer customer bases declined even as ARPU edged up. BT’s release does not establish whether the results beat or missed analyst consensus, so no such comparison can be drawn from these figures alone.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Outlook: guidance, not a result delivered in Q1
BT said it remained on track for its FY25 financial outlook. It also cited a cash-flow inflection to approximately £2.0 billion in 2027 and approximately £3.0 billion by the end of the decade. These are forward-looking targets, not cash flow achieved in the quarter; their delivery depends on future performance.
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Source: BT Group plc, Q1 FY25 trading update, 25 July 2024.
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