BT posts profit after year of sharp cuts

LONDON (AP) - Telecommunications company BT Group PLC said Thursday it made a profit of 208 million pounds ($310 million) during the three months through March as the company closed a year of sharp cuts in capital spending and underlying costs.

The net profit in the fiscal fourth quarter contrasted with a loss of 1 billion pounds a year earlier when the company posted massive losses in its Global Services division.

Revenue was down 2 percent to 5.36 billion pounds.

BT shares rose 8 percent to 130.1 pence in early trading on the London Stock Exchange.

For the full year, BT reported a profit of 1.03 billion pounds, compared with a loss of 193 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue was down 2 percent to 20.9 billion pounds.

BT says it had cut 20,000 jobs during the year, paring total employment to 128,000. Most of the cuts involved temporary staff, it said.

The company cut capital expenditure by 18 percent during the year to 2.5 billion pounds, and it trimmed 1.75 billion pounds, or 6 percent, from its underlying costs.

During the fourth quarter, however, capital expenditure rose by 12 percent as BT poured more money into expanding its fiber-optic network.