BT Group CEO Allison Kirkby (pictured) pointed to progress in ongoing attempts to reduce its costs in its FY2025 Q1 trading update, crediting the measures with offsetting a decline in revenue across its consumer and business segments.

Revenue was down 2 per cent year-on-year to £5.1 billion for the three months to end-June. The decline was partly attributed to an end of some legacy contracts, a cut in what was deemed low margin activity and a reduced portfolio in its Business division.

In its consumer unit, BT highlighted a continued shift to users on SIM-only deals.

BT’s top line, though, benefitted from price increases and a higher FTTP and Ethernet base in fixed unit Openreach.

Kirkby said the revenue drop was expected and noted there is still work to do in efforts to “simplify” the business to “deliver for our customers”.

In Consumer, she credited increased 5G availability and “new EE propositions” for “an improved trend in our customer base, in what remains a very competitive market”.

Within its Business division, Kirkby pointed to “improved trends, as we continue to modernise our portfolio and our operations towards a simpler business, delivering secure, cloud-based connectivity and communication services for all our customers”.

BT’s EBITDA, adjusted to exclude one-off items including restructuring charges, was up 1 per cent at £2.1 billion. The company does not break-out net profit in Q1 trading updates.