There is certainly a case for saying BT could have cut the dividend since, judging by the violent share price reaction to today's news, the company has received little credit for maintaining the pay-out.
BT could cut dividend to fund fibre
To fund this, BT has had to make some tough decisions. Management cut the dividend in 2020, and soon after announced plans to slash costs. It is targeting annualised cost savings of 2.5bn by 2025. These decisions are already helping the business. While revenues fell 2% overall last year, reported profit before tax ticked higher by 9%, thanks to lower costs.
There are seven key policy, legislative and fiscal enablers that, delivered together, could allow industry to bring the full fibre coverage up to 96% of all UK homes and businesses by 2025 and 100% by 2027. 2ff7e9595c
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