Nov 2 (Reuters) - BT Group, Britain's biggest broadband and mobile provider, posted second quarter earnings slightly ahead of forecasts putting it on track to meet 2024 guidance, in one of the outgoing CEO's final announcements.
BT in July named Allison Kirkby, a board member and the boss of Sweden's Telia Company, as its next boss to replace Philip Jansen and said she is set to take the helm early next year.
Strong cost controls helped BT post a 3% rise in adjusted core profit (EBITDA) to 2.06 billion pounds ($2.51 billion) for the three months to the end of September, beating the 2.03 billion pounds consensus forecast.
"These results show that BT Group is delivering and on target: we're rapidly building and connecting customers to our next generation networks, we're simplifying our products and services," Jansen said in a statement on Thursday.
The quarterly result meant BT maintained its outlook to grow revenue and profits for its current 2024 financial year, and the group said it expected free cash flow towards the top end of its 1 billion to 1.2 billion pound range.
($1 = 0.8215 pounds)
Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Sarah Young in London; Editing by Savio D'Souza and James Davey
Source: Reuters