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BT has had a pretty uneventful quarter - Q1 results show revenue remains on a downward trend but profitability continues to improve. Overall, revenue was down 5% £4.76bn while (adjusted) PBT increased 20% to £533m. The trends were similar at BT Global Services - the part of the business which derives around two-thirds of its revenue from ‘ICT and Managed Services’ and therefore plays in ‘our’ software and IT services space. BTGS’ revenue declined by 5% in Q1 to £1.9bn - underlying revenue, excluding transit, was down 2%. EBITDA is up 6% to £138m but cashflow at the division deteriorated to -£60m (Q1 2010: -£38m).
In general, it's an improving picture at BTGS with the order intake at £1.6bn in the quarter. ‘High growth economies’ can take much of the credit. Indeed, it has just secured its largest ever contract in Latin America with the Brazilian Post Office, and the pipeline in Asia Pac is up 80%. But CEO Ian Livingstone stressed the UK is also doing better with revenue and profits both improving thanks to wins like the recent contract at Lancashire. Performance is expected to continue to improve throughout 2011, with BT still on track to make its overall target of 0-2% revenue decline for the full year.
