BUSINESS LIVE: BT to boost free cash flow; EasyJet CEO to exit; United Utilities profits slump

EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren will step down in early 2025, the budget airline said this morning, as it reported a bigger than expected first-half loss on Thursday ahead of a busy summer season.

Lundgren, who has helped to lead the airline out of its pandemic debt and has grown the holiday business, will be succeeded by finance chief Kenton Jarvis.

The company reported a headline pretax loss of £350million, higher than an expected loss of £340million but down from £392million a year earlier.

‘We are now absolutely focused on another record summer which is expected to deliver strong FY24 earnings growth and are on track to achieve our medium term targets,’ Lundgren said in a statement.

The new chief executive of BT Group has set out a plan to more than double free cash flow over the next five years as the telecoms giant passes the peak of its investment in fibre networks.

Allison Kirkby, who previously led Sweden’s Telia, said BT would increase its dividend for the 2024 financial year by 3.9 per cent to 8p a share after free cash flow beat expectations.

Some analysts had expected free cash flow to suffer during the period as a result of bumper spending on BT’s full-fibre roll-out, potentially even forcing a dividend cut.

While BT surpassed expectations in this respect, broadband line losses to competitors were worse than expected at 491,000 in the year to 31 March – up from 210,000 the prior year.