By Jonathan Easton
BT has confirmed that it has hit its cost savings target of £1 billion(US$1.4billion) 18 months ahead of schedule.
The news was initially broken by The Telegraph before being confirmed by BT. In a statement, the former state-owned telco said: “Further to weekend press speculation, BT confirms that it has delivered on its 1 billion pound of gross annualised cost savings 18 months ahead of the March 2023 target.”
The announcement comes at a time of potential upheaval for the operator, Altice’s billionaire owner Patrick Drahi eyeing a takeover bid. Drahi was revealed as BT’s largest single shareholder earlier this year, controlling 12.1 per cent of the company. The Franco-Israeli billionaire has stated that he has no intention of making an offer, but will officially be allowed to launch a takeover attempt in December.
BT is in the middle of a radical cost-cutting programme that evidently is bearing fruit. The company is working through 13,000 job cuts with additional redundancies planned, while it is considering more extreme measures such as a spin-off of its consumer business.
