UK telecommunications company BT, which operates pay-television broadcaster BT Sport, has hailed a “landmark year” for the business in its financial results, adding that the first season of its rights deal for Uefa club football competitions has helped to increase daily audience figures by 45 per cent.
Revenues for the full year ending March 31, 2016 climbed six per cent to £18.909bn (€24.1bn/$27.7bn), with adjusted pre-tax profit increasing nine per cent to £3.473bn. On a reported basis, this rose 15 per cent to £3.029bn.
BT reported ebitda (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) of £6.58bn, a five per cent increase. BT chief executive Gavin Patterson noted that the company’s main revenue measure, change in underlying revenue, was up two per cent, the best performance for more than seven years.
BT Sport currently holds exclusive live rights in the UK to the Champions League and Europa League competitions after agreeing a three-season deal across the 2015-16 to 2017-18 campaigns worth £897m.
The company said BT Sport’s average daily audience figures increased 45 per cent year on year, from the start of the football season in August to the end of March. For the same period, BT reported 39 games with peak concurrent viewers of over 1m.
The Europa League last 16 first leg clash between Liverpool and Manchester United generated a peak of more than 2m viewers for the first time.
Patterson added: “Our strong overall performance for the year is reflected in our full year dividend, which is up 13 per cent. Our results and the investments we’re making position us well to continue to grow in the coming years.”