Broadband boost for BT a pleasant shock for City

Profits at BT surged 30 per cent as the proportion of new broadband customers using its own service hit an eight-year high in the final three months of last year.

The telecoms giant made 531 million profit in the quarter to 31 December, up from 408m in the same period of 2009.

BT said 356,000 customers were added by companies using its network, up on the 253,000 gained in the previous quarter.

The firm, which returned to profit last year after driving down its costs with job cuts, said 53 per cent of these new additions connected using BT's own broadband service, the highest proportion since 2003.

Its broadband television service, BT Vision, added 40,000 customers in the quarter, compared to 24,000 additions in the previous three months.

The company also said its global services unit would turn cash-flow positive this fiscal year, earlier than expected..

BT's performance came in ahead of city expectations, and shares rose 3.6 per cent to close at 184.9p yesterday.

Ovum analyst Mark Giles said: "This is a huge bonus for the group - it shows they have cleared up some bad commercial deals very effectively."