BT cuts costs

Telecoms group BT has reported a rise in profits, thanks to cost-cutting and an increase in broadband users.

Pre-tax profits for the three months to the end of December were £652m, 48% higher than a year earlier. Revenue fell 5% to £4.77bn.

Excluding one-off items, profits increased by 18%.

The company said it had expanded the availability of its fibre-optic broadband to seven million homes and signed up 95,000 customers to it.