Little for investors to cheer with BT in past year

BT has been rocked by boardroom clashes, takeover speculation and talks about the future of its sports division in the past year. 

As a result there has been little for investors to cheer in terms of the telecom group’s share price, with the stock down around 65 per cent since its peak in 2015. 

Pressure is on bosses ahead of its full-year results on Thursday. The City will be waiting nervously to see if the squeeze on incomes from the cost of living crisis has seen an exodus in subscribers from BT. 

Analysts expect sales of £20.9billion, a 2.3 per cent slip from a year earlier, with a 2 per cent increase in profits to £7.6billion. They will have a keen eye on BT’s guidance for the year ahead and expect it to forecast 0.7 per cent sales growth. 

The FTSE100 firm has also been under attack from French billionaire Patrick Drahi, who snapped up an 18 per cent stake in December, sparking speculation he plans to mount a takeover attempt.

At the same time BT is also in talks with Eurosport-owner Discovery to create a joint venture that would prop up its BT Sport division. 

It will be the first full year results outing for chairman Adam Crozier, who took over from Jan Du Plessis in December after a boardroom bust up between Du Plessis and chief executive Philip Jansen. 

Shareholders will also look at how BT’s 5G fibre rollout has affected its balance sheets. 

BT-owned Openreach said it has connected more than 7m homes to its full-fibre network in April. It plans to cover 25m homes and businesses with its 5G services by 2026.