BT said this morning its first-quarter underlying earnings rose 2 per cent, in line with analyst expectations, and that it was confident of further growth this year.
The former UK telecoms monopoly posted underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £1.39 billion ($2.56 billion) for the three months to June 30th, from £1.36 billion in the year-earlier period.
BT shares gained 1.2 per cent to 240-1/2 pence by 8.23am.
BT's revenue rose 3 per cent to £4.86 billion, with its global services unit up 4 per cent to £2.16 billion.
BT Retail revenues fell 2 per cent to £2.07 billion, with traditional revenues down 8 per cent and "new wave" revenue up 31 per cent. BT is counting on new services like broadband Internet access to counteract falling fixed-line revenues, but competition in the sector is fierce.
BT's market share for net broadband additions was 30 per cent, down from 31 per cent in the fourth quarter.
BT's own TV service, BT Vision, is set to launch in the autumn, combining a Freeview receiver with video-on-demand, catch-up viewing of recent programmes, and a digital video recorder.
It announced yesterday it would carry TV and film programming from NBC Universal, along with a video download service for PCs.