Half-year Financial Report

British Telecommunications plc

Results for the half year to 30 September 2025

14 November 2025

About BT

British Telecommunications plc ('BT' or 'group') is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group Investments Limited, which

encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. The ultimate parent company is BT Group plc, which is

listed on the London Stock Exchange.

BT Group is the UK's leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications and related secure digital products, solutions and services.

BT Group consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer serves individuals and families in the UK; Business covers companies and public services in the UK; International serves multinational organisations headquartered outside the UK and overseas public sector customers; Openreach is an independently governed, wholly owned subsidiary wholesaling fixed access infrastructure services to its customers - over 700 communication providers across the UK.

From 1 July 2025, BT completed the reorganisation of its former combined Business operations, creating distinct UK-focused Business and International units. Business now serves UK customers exclusively, while International focuses on multinational corporations and overseas public sector clients. This reorganisation, alongside strategic exits and reshaping International, supports the UK focus and transformation agenda, driving simplification and growth in line with medium-term plans previously announced.

The directors at 30 September 2025 were Simon Lowth, Neil Harris, Edward Heaton, Daniel Rider and Helen Charnley. On 14 April 2025, Roger Eyre resigned as director and Helen Charnley was appointed as director on the same date.

Customer-facing unit updates

Prior period comparatives

Throughout this release, comparative financial information for the half year to 30 September 2024 ('H1 FY25') has been re-presented to reflect the formation of the new International CFU and re-presentations of segmental revenue to reflect the nature of services and trading relationships between CFUs. Note 15 on page 25 and Additional Information on page 30 present a bridge between financial information for the half year to 30 September 2024 as published on 18 November 2024, and the comparatives presented in this release. For further information see bt.com/about for a separate publication covering the formation of International.

Group results for the half year to 30 September 2025

Income statement

• Reported revenue was £9,810m, down 3% mainly due to declines in legacy voice across the group, continued weaker handset trading in Consumer, and International. This was offset through the improvement of FTTP mix and price increases in Openreach

• Adjusted1 UK service revenue for the year was £7,726m (H1 FY25: £7,827m). This is down 1% due to declines in legacy voice and softer retail pricing, offset by an improving FTTP mix and CPI-linked price increases in Openreach

• Reported operating costs were £8,330m, down 3% year-on-year due to continued cost transformation including lower total labour resource primarily in Openreach, lower mobile equipment volumes and the lower trading in International

• Adjusted1 EBITDA of £4,125m, flat year-on-year with strong cost transformation and cost control offsetting revenue flow through and higher National Insurance and National Living Wage costs

• Reported profit before tax of £1,192m, down 12%, primarily driven by higher depreciation and amortisation from a higher asset base and increased interest, offset by lower specific costs

Specific items (Note 5 to the condensed consolidated financial statements)

• Specific items resulted in a net charge after tax of £259m (H1 FY25: £288m). The main components were restructuring charges of £134m ( H1 FY25: £187m) and interest expense on retirement benefit obligation of £96m (H1 FY25: £99m). Specific operating costs were £232m (H1 FY25: £245m)

Tax

• The effective tax rate on reported profit was 17.7% (H1 FY25: 15.7%) and on adjusted1 profit was 18.2% (H1 FY25: 16.9%). These are lower than the UK corporation tax rate of 25% primarily due to the UK patent box tax regime and the inclusion of group relief for nil payment

• We made a net corporation tax payment of £28m (H1 FY25: £72m refund) driven by overseas tax payments

• We expect a large proportion of our capital expenditure to be eligible for full expensing which will reduce our current year UK tax liability

Capital expenditure

• Capital expenditure1 was £2,443m, up 8% on H1 FY25 with higher FTTP build and provision volumes in Openreach, as we continue to accelerate our build

• Cash capital expenditure was £2,590m, up 5% with the difference to reported capital expenditure due to the timing of capital creditor spend and government grant funding repayments

Cash flow

• Net cash inflow from operating activities was £2,765m, down 7% driven by lower net cash flows from sale of receivables and the absence of a prior year tax refund, offset by timing of working capital

Balance Sheet

• The group holds cash and current investment balances of £2.0bn; the current portion of loans and other borrowings is £1.7bn.

• Our £2.1bn undrawn committed borrowing facility, which matures no earlier than January 2030 with the option to extend for two further years, remains undrawn at 30 September 2025

• We remain committed to our credit rating target of BBB+/Baa1 and minimum rating of BBB/Baa2

• During H1 FY26 our credit ratings have remained unchanged at BBB or equivalent with stable outlook

Pensions (Note 6 to the condensed consolidated financial statements)

• The IAS 19 deficit has decreased to £3.9bn at 30 September 2025, net of tax £2.9bn (31 March 2025: £4.1bn, net of tax £3.2bn), primarily due to scheduled contributions offset by a decrease in credit spreads and higher real interest rates since year-end

• The 2023 BTPS funding valuation included a future funding commitment for BT to provide additional deficit contributions should the funding deficit be more than £1bn behind plan at two consecutive semi-annual assessment dates. At the 30 June 2025 assessment date, the funding position was within this limit

1 See Glossary on page 7.

Operating review

Measures discussed in the operating review are on an adjusted basis and unless otherwise stated commentary is on half year results. For a definition of adjusted , see Glossary on page 7.

Consumer: Winning customers in a competitive market, with accelerating fibre and converged households

Financial metrics

• Revenue1 decline of 3% was primarily driven by lower mobile handset trading volumes and a decline in service revenue in a competitive market

• UK service revenue declined by 1% and was broadly flat excluding legacy voice declines. While we grew our customer bases in broadband, postpaid mobile and TV and achieved a higher FTTP mix within broadband, this was more than offset by competitive pricing pressure in mobile and broadband, as well as ongoing declines in legacy voice

• EBITDA1 declined by 4%. Revenue flow-through and higher input costs from Openreach were largely mitigated by disciplined cost control, but EBITDA was further impacted by two additional pressures: increases in National Insurance / National Living Wage and incremental drags as we move towards the closure of the PSTN network in January 2027

• Depreciation and amortisation1 was down, driven by lower digital and network depreciation offset by increased customer premises equipment depreciation

• Capital expenditure1 was down 1%

Operational metrics

• Postpaid mobile ARPU £19.3, down 1.6% year-on-year. Base at 13.9m with net adds of 61k during H1. Churn remains low at 1.0%

• Broadband ARPU £41.9, down 1.4% year-on-year. Base at 8.2m with net adds of 12k during H1. Churn has remained at 1.2% despite an increasingly competitive broadband market with Consumer adversely impacted in areas where we do not have FTTP. TV base up 36k during H1

• Record breaking growth in the FTTP base with an increase of 476k in H1; the FTTP base was 3.7m customers, up 32% year-on-year, now 45% of the total base. 5G Connected base continues to grow with 11.2m customers, up 7% year-on-year

• Our converged base continued to grow, up to 25.9% (H1 FY25: 23.1%) of all broadband and mobile customers now taking both services

• EE won the RootMetrics UK's Best Network award for the twelfth consecutive year, coming first in 127 of 128 categories, delivering the UK's best 5G experience and highest average download speed and won Retailer of the Year at the 2025 Mobile Industry Awards for the second consecutive year

• Consumer NPS slightly down, 0.3pts year-on-year, but up in the last 6 months

1 Financials and commentary are based on adjusted measures; see Glossary on page 7.

Business: Showing signs of stability, as transformation steps up

Since 1 July Business is focused on serving customers based in the UK, with the separation of overseas activities into International; prior periods have been re-presented.

Financial metrics

• Revenue1 down 2% driven by legacy voice decline and equipment trading, partially offset by growth in voice over IP

• UK service revenue1 down 1% driven by legacy voice decline, partially offset by growth in voice over IP

• EBITDA1 decline of 1%, mainly due to revenue flow-through, partially offset by cost transformation and a benefit of cost phasing across the year

• Depreciation and amortisation1 growth driven by higher network, digital and customer equipment investment

• Capital expenditure1 was flat, with continued investment in customer driven equipment and transformation

Operational metrics

• FTTP base increased 42% year-on-year to 275k. 5G base increased 33% year-on-year to 2.8m

• Q2 Corporate & Public Sector sales order value up 16% year-on-year, including new business in the industrials sector

• Simplified the product portfolio to 193, on the way to achieve the ambition to halve the number of products from more than 300 to 150; units on legacy networks decreased by 38% year-on-year

• NPS grew to 30.6, up 8.3pts year-on-year primarily driven by improvements in SMB channel

1 Financials and commentary are based on adjusted measures; see Glossary on page 7.

2 H1 FY25 comparative information for the Business CFU has been re-presented to reflect the formation of the new International CFU and re-presentations of segmental revenue to reflect the nature of services and trading relationships between CFUs. Note 15 on page 25 and the Additional Information on page 30 present bridges between financial information for the half year to 30 September 2024 as published on 18 November 2024, and the comparatives presented in this release.

International: Plans advanced to reshape; divestment of non-core businesses

International was formed on 1 July 2025 to focus on serving multinational corporations. Its strategic ambition is to become the global leader in secure, multi-cloud connectivity, anchored by next-gen platforms Global Fabric and Global Voice; prior periods have been re-presented.

Financial metrics

• Revenue1 declined by 9%; agreed or completed divestments accounted for 4ppts of this, adverse foreign exchange accounted for over 1ppt, with the remainder driven by declines in legacy products and managed contracts

• EBITDA1 declined by 27%, due to revenue flow-through, inflationary cost pressures and increased investment in Global Fabric, partially offset by tight cost control and ongoing transformation initiatives

• Depreciation and amortisation1 decreased, largely reflecting the reclassification of assets as held for sale in line with the completion of strategic business exits

• Capital expenditure1 down 10%

Operational metrics

• Cost transformation plan advanced within our £3bn transformation programme to reduce office locations and simplify the product portfolio

• During the period, we entered into two sale agreements for the remaining disposal groups classified as held for sale at 31 March 2025, the most significant of which was for the disposal of BT Radianz to Transaction Network Services which was entered into in September 2025. During September we completed on the sale of BT Communications Ireland Ltd and post period end we completed the sale of BT Italia and our datacentres business in Ireland

• NPS was up year-on-year with improved scores from key customers

1 Financials and commentary are based on adjusted measures; see Glossary on page 7.

2 H1 FY25 comparative information for the Business CFU has been re-presented to reflect the formation of the new International CFU and re-presentations of segmental revenue to reflect the nature of services and trading relationships between CFUs. Note 15 on page 25 and the Additional Information on page 30 present bridges between financial information for the half year to 30 September 2024 as published on 18 November 2024, and the comparatives presented in this release.

Openreach: Record FTTP build and take-up; continued EBITDA growth

Financial metrics

• Revenue1 was flat year-on-year. CPI-linked price increases and an improved FTTP mix in broadband were offset by declines in the broadband and voice-only customer base

• EBITDA1 increased by 4%, driven by ongoing cost transformation including the benefit of lower repair volumes, lower total labour resource and lower energy costs. These were partially offset by pay inflation

• Depreciation and amortisation1 increased, reflecting continued investment in network build

• Capital expenditure1 grew due to increased FTTP provisioning and build activity

Operational metrics

• Q2 saw record build with Openreach passing 1.2m premises with FTTP, at an average build rate of 90k per week in the quarter, reaching a footprint of over 20.3m, of which 5.5m are in more rural and less competitive areas (Area 3 as defined by Ofcom2)

• Total FTTP connected base surpassed 7.6m. Net adds of 550k in the quarter are 23% higher year-on-year, reaching a record 1.1m in the half year, increasing our market-leading take-up to 38% on a fast-growing footprint

• Openreach broadband lines fell by 242k, driven by higher losses to wholesale competitors, a weaker broadband market and 15k of dual line ceases; our full year estimate remains unchanged from that given in May

• Openreach broadband ARPU of £16.7 was up 4% on Q2 last year driven by the CPI linked price increase and greater FTTP take-up

• Openreach achieved 30/30 Ofcom Copper Quality of Service measures

• Openreach delivered a solid performance for on time FTTP provision of 89.5% in Q2

• End customer satisfaction was solid in Q2 with 92% of our independent customer survey responses scoring Openreach between 8 and 10 (out of 10), helping to maintain an 'Excellent' Trustpilot rating based on over 247k reviews, with 83% of reviews rated as '5 star'

1 Financials and commentary are based on adjusted measures; see Glossary on page 7.

2 Area 3: Postcode sectors where Ofcom determined there is not, and there is unlikely to be potential for, material and sustainable competition to BT in the commercial deployment of competing networks.

Glossary

We assess the performance of the group using a variety of alternative performance measures. Reconciliations from the most directly comparable IFRS measures are in Additional Information on page 30.

Condensed consolidated financial statements

Group income statement

Group statement of comprehensive income

Group balance sheet

1 £11,949m (31 March 2025: £12,437m) of the non-current investments relates to amounts owed by the parent and ultimate parent company (see note 13)

Group statement of changes in equity

Group cash flow statement

1 FY26 non-cash items include £(1)m of fair value (gain) loss (H1 FY25: £44m) on A and C preference shares held in the sports JV and an impairment loss of £23m (H1 FY25: Nil) in respect of Group's equity interest in the sports JV.

2 Includes pension deficit payments of £789m (H1 FY25: £791m).

3 Primarily consists of investment in and redemption of amounts held in liquidity funds.

4 Property, plant and equipment, engineering stores and software additions of £2,442m (H1 FY25: £2,269m), capital accruals movements of £83m (H1 FY25: £166m) and spectrum payment of £1m (H1 FY25 : £nil). Purchases of property, plant and equipment is presented net of cash inflows from government grants of £64m (H1 FY25: £28m).

5 Repayment of borrowings includes the impact of hedging.

6 Net of bank overdrafts of £7m (H1 FY25: £58m). Cash and cash equivalents include £152m (H1 FY25: £nil) of cash held for sale as detailed in note 11. Assets and liabilities held for sale.

Notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements

1. Basis of preparation and accounting policies

Basis of preparation

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements (the "financial statements") comprise the financial results of British Telecommunications plc for the half years to 30 September 2025 and 2024 together with the balance sheet at 31 March 2025. The financial statements for the half year to 30 September 2025 have been reviewed by the auditors and their review opinion is on page 29. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules sourcebook (DTR) of the Financial Conduct Authority and with UK-adopted IAS 34 'Interim Financial Reporting'. The financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Annual Report 2025 which was prepared in accordance with UK-adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Management have produced forecasts which confirm the group has adequate resources to continue in operation for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of this report, notwithstanding the net current liabilities position of £1,781m at 30 September 2025 (£1,828m net current liabilities at 31 March 2025). Consequently, the directors consider it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the condensed consolidated financial statements for the half year to 30 September 2025. When reaching this conclusion, the directors took into account:

• The group's overall financial position (including trading during the year and ability to repay term debt as it matures without recourse to refinancing); and

• Exposure to our principal risks and uncertainties; and

• The financial effect of a severe but plausible downside scenario

At 30 September 2025, the group had cash and cash equivalents of £498m (net of bank overdrafts) and current asset investments of £1,631m. The group also had access to committed borrowing facilities of £2.1bn, which matures no earlier than January 2030 with the option to extend for two further years.

The information for the year ended 31 March 2025 does not constitute the group's statutory accounts as defined in section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. A copy of the statutory accounts for that year has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditor has reported on those accounts; their report (i) was unqualified, (ii) did not include a reference to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their report and (iii) did not contain a statement under section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006 in respect of the accounts for the year to 31 March 2025.

A reference to a year expressed as FY26 is to the financial year to 31 March 2026.

Accounting policies changes and restatements

Other than as stated below, the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies as set out in the financial statements for the year to 31 March 2025 and have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the revaluation of financial assets and liabilities (including derivative financial instruments) at fair value.

Formation of the International segment and re-presentation of prior year comparatives

The International CFU was separated from Business forming a new CFU, effective from 1 July 2025. In line with the requirements of IFRS 8 Operating Segments, we have re-presented H1 FY25 comparatives to reflect the separate units.

In addition, two re-presentations have been made to segmental revenue reporting, consistent with the information now provided to the BT Group Executive Committee, which is the key management committee and represents the 'chief operating decision maker' (CODM). The re-presentations reflect Openreach pass-through services previously reported in Business, and a reclassification of an EE and BT Wholesale trading relationship as revenue from costs.

The Group has revised its disaggregation of external revenue to better reflect the internal reporting provided to the Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM). Revenue previously reported under "Equipment and Other Services" has been split into separate categories: "Equipment" and "Other Services." Additionally, lease revenue is now disclosed within our disaggregation of revenue. Segmental revenue includes internal revenue to more accurately reflect segment performance.

Note 15 and the Additional Information on page 30 present bridges between financial information for the half year to 30 September 2024 as published on 18 November 2024, and the comparatives presented in this release.

Re-presentation of goodwill and other intangible assets

From H1 FY26, we have disaggregated "Intangible Assets" into "Goodwill" and "Other Intangible Assets", presenting them as separate line items and in distinct disclosure notes. This updated presentation aims to provide users of the financial statements with a clearer view of our financial position.

New and amended accounting standards effective during the year

Lack of Exchangeability (Amendments to IAS 21) is the only amended standard effective during the year, which did not have a material impact on the financial statements of the group.

IFRS Interpretations Committee agenda decisions

The IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) periodically issues agenda decisions which explain and clarify how to apply the principles and requirements of IFRS standards. Agenda decisions are authoritative and may require the group to revise accounting policies or practice to align with the interpretations set out in the decision.

We regularly review IFRIC updates and assess the impact of agenda decisions. No agenda decisions finalised in the half year to 30 September 2025 have been assessed as having a significant impact on the group.

New and amended accounting standards that have been issued but are not yet effective

The IASB has issued IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements which replaces IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements. BT is evaluating the impact of this new standard on its financial statements. It will be effective for BT for the first time for FY28.

We are currently assessing the impact of the standards below, but they are not expected to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements:

• Classification and Measurement of Financial Instruments (Amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7)

• Contracts referencing Nature-dependent Electricity (Amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7)

• Annual Improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards - Volume 11

• Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures (IFRS 19)

Effective dates will be subject to the UK endorsement process. We have not adopted any other standard, amendment or interpretation that has been issued but is not yet effective.

IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information, and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures have been issued but not yet endorsed by the UK authorities. We will continue to monitor new disclosure requirements and update our disclosures as part of the TCFD reporting where relevant.

2. Operating results - by customer-facing unit

1 See Glossary on page 7.

2 For the reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA, see Additional Information on page 30.

3 H1 FY25 comparative information for the Business CFU has been re-presented to reflect the formation of the new International CFU and re-presentations of segmental revenue to reflect the nature of services and trading relationships between CFUs. Note 15 on page 25 and the Additional Information on page 30 present bridges between financial information for the half year to 30 September 2024 as published on 18 November 2024, and the comparatives presented in this release.

3. Operating results - disaggregation of revenue

1 See Glossary on page 7.

2 Lease revenue includes income from Openreach's fixed access subscription services.

3 We have further disaggregated the revenue presented here to derive the UK adjusted service revenue of £7,726m (H1 FY25: £7,827m). Please refer to our adjusted UK service revenue reconciliation in Additional Information on page 30. Adjusted UK service revenue includes some portion of equipment revenue where that equipment is sold as part of a managed services contract, or where that equipment cannot be practicably separated from the underlying service.

4 H1 FY25 comparative information for the Business CFU has been re-presented to reflect the formation of the new International CFU and re-presentations of segmental revenue to reflect the nature of services and trading relationships between units. Note 15 presents a bridge between financial information for the half year to 30 September 2024 as published on 18 November 2024, and the comparatives presented in this release.

4. Operating costs

Depreciation and amortisation, which includes impairment charges, is analysed as follows:

5. Specific items

Our income statement and segmental analysis separately identify trading results on an adjusted basis, being before specific items. The directors believe that presentation of the group's results in this way is relevant to an understanding of the group's financial performance as specific items are those that in management's judgement need to be disclosed by virtue of their size, nature or incidence.

This presentation is consistent with the way that financial performance is measured by management and reported to the BT Group Board and the Executive Committee and assists in providing an additional analysis of our reported trading results. Specific items may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. In determining whether an event or transaction is specific, management considers quantitative as well as qualitative factors.

Examples of charges or credits meeting the above definition and which have been presented as specific items in the current and/or prior years include significant business restructuring programmes such as the current group-wide cost transformation and modernisation programme, disposals of businesses and investments, impairment loss on remeasurement of held for sale items, charges or credits relating to retrospective regulatory matters, increases in litigation provisions, property rationalisation programmes, significant out of period contract settlements, net interest on our pension obligation, and the impact of remeasuring deferred tax balances. In the event that items meet the criteria, which are applied consistently from year to year, they are treated as specific items. Any releases to provisions originally booked as a specific item are also classified as specific. Conversely, when a reversal occurs in relation to a prior year item not classified as specific, the reversal is not classified as specific in the current year.

Movements relating to the sports joint venture (Sports JV) with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), such as fair value gains or losses on the A and C preference shares or impairment charges on the equity-accounted investment are classified as specific. Refer to note 10 for further details.

Retrospective regulatory matters

We recognised a credit £(4)m (H1 FY25: charge of £21m) within revenue in relation to historical regulatory matters and £nil (H1 FY25: £11m charge) impact was recognised within operating costs. These items represent movements in provisions relating to various matters.

Restructuring charges

During the half year, we incurred charges of £134m (H1 FY25: £187m) relating to our group-wide cost transformation and modernisation programme. Of this amount, the portfolio simplification, and product and platform modernisation initiatives, accounted for £85m. Further charges of £49m were associated with the Openreach transformation following the peak FTTP build programme. The majority of these expenses comprise leaver costs and consultancy fees attributable to the programmes. As previously disclosed, in May 2024 a new transformation programme was announced which targeted £3bn gross annualised cost savings, with a total cost to achieve of £1bn which will run until the end of FY29. The benefits and costs of the final FY25 year of the previous May 2020 programme were absorbed into the new targets. As that programme has now finished, from FY26 we are disclosing each transformation programme separately.

Net cash outflows from restructuring activities amounted to £190m during the half year (H1 FY25: £198m).

In H1 FY26, the May 2024 programme delivered an estimated £247m in gross annualised cost savings at a cost to achieve of £134m.

Since the programme was announced we have achieved gross annualised cost savings of £1.2bn at a cost to achieve of £581m. The total expected cash costs to achieve until FY29 is £1bn, of this we have incurred £0.6bn.

We do not consider the estimated restructuring costs to achieve of £1bn referenced here to constitute a sufficiently-detailed formal announcement of a restructuring programme such that would trigger a provision under IAS 37. Costs are provided for when the IAS 37 recognition criteria are met.

Sports JV-related items

We have recorded a net fair value gain of £1m (H1 FY25: £44m loss) on the A and C preference shares in the Sports JV and an impairment loss of £23m on ordinary equity interest in the Sports JV. Refer to note 10 for further details.

Divestment-related items

We recognised a £19m charge (H1 FY25: £3m charge) relating to costs associated with ongoing divestment activities as we progress towards becoming fully UK focused.

Increase in litigation provisions

We have increased our litigation provision by £30m. BT is currently engaged in litigation activity as the defendant. This has been recognised as specific due to the size and incidence of this adjustment.

Impairment loss on remeasurement of held for sale items

We recognised an impairment charge of £27m for the remeasurement of held for sale related items. Assets classified as held for sale under IFRS 5 are measured at the lower of their carrying amount and fair value less costs to sell, resulting in an impairment loss.

Interest expense on retirement benefit obligation

We incurred £96m (H1 FY25: £99m) of interest costs in relation to our defined benefit pension obligations.

Tax on specific items

A tax credit of £65m was recognised in relation to specific items (H1 FY25: £77m).

6. Pensions

1 Of which £(4.0)bn relates to schemes in deficit (31 March 2025: £(4.2)bn) and £0.1bn relates to schemes in surplus (31 March 2025: £0.1bn).

The IAS 19 deficit decreased to £3.9bn at 30 September 2025 from £4.1bn at 31 March 2025 due to scheduled contributions. This was offset by a decrease in credit spreads and higher real interest rates since year-end. Changes in credit spreads and real interest rates impact the IAS 19 position, but have limited impact on the funding position.

The 2023 BTPS funding valuation included a future funding commitment for BT to provide additional deficit contributions of £150m - £300m p.a. should the funding deficit be more than £1bn behind plan at two consecutive semi-annual assessment dates.

At the 30 June 2025 assessment date, the funding position was within this limit.

7. Financial instruments and risk management

Fair value of financial assets and liabilities measured at amortised cost

At 30 September 2025, the fair value of listed bonds was £18,877m (31 March 2025: £18,132m) and the carrying value was £19,083m (31 March 2025: £18,568m). The increase was primarily attributable to £1,056m of newly issued bonds, partially offset by £807m of bond redemptions and repayments.

The fair value of the following financial assets and liabilities approximate to their carrying amount:

• Cash and cash equivalents

• Lease liabilities

• Trade and other receivables

• Trade and other payables

• Investments held at amortised cost

• Other short-term borrowings

• Contract assets

• Contract liabilities

The group's activities expose it to a variety of financial risks: market risk (including interest rate risk, foreign exchange risk and energy price risk); credit risk; and liquidity risk. There have been no changes to the risk management policies which cover these risks since 31 March 2025.

Current trade and other payables balance of £5,496m includes (31 March 2025: £5,873m):

• £189m (31 March 2025: £nil) of trade payables in a supply chain financing programme used with a limited number of suppliers to extend short payment terms to a more typical payment term.

• £234m (31 March 2025: £223m) of trade payables in a separate supply chain financing programme that allows suppliers the opportunity to receive funding earlier than the invoice due date. Financial institutions are used to support this programme but we continue to recognise the underlying payables as we continue to cash settle the supplier invoices in accordance with their terms.

Fair value estimation

Fair values of financial instruments are analysed by three levels of valuation methodology which are:

1. Level 1 - uses quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

2. Level 2 - uses inputs for the asset or liability other than quoted prices that are observable either directly or indirectly.

3. Level 3 - uses inputs for the asset or liability that are not based on observable market data, such as internal models or other valuation methods.

Level 2 balances are the fair values of the group's outstanding derivative financial assets and liabilities which were estimated using discounted cash flow models and market rates of interest and foreign exchange at the balance sheet date.

Level 3 balances comprise the following financial instruments classified as fair value through profit and loss and fair value through other comprehensive income:

• A and C preference shares in the Sports JV, see note 10 for more details.

• Investments in a number of private companies. If specific market data is not available, these investments are held at cost, adjusted as necessary for impairments, which approximates to fair value.

• Derivative energy contracts, estimated using discounted cash flow models and the latest forward energy curves at the balance sheet date.

Net loss of £40m and net gain of £26m have been recognised in the income statement and other comprehensive income respectively in respect of fair value movements on level 3 instruments during the year ended 30 September 2025. Of the £40m loss recognised in the income statement £22m loss is in respect of recycling from cash flow hedge reserve. There were no significant changes to the valuation methods or transfers between the levels of fair value hierarchy during the period.

8. Financial commitments

Financial commitments as at 30 September 2025 include capital commitments of £1,049m (31 March 2025: £985m).

9. Contingent liabilities and legal proceedings

In the ordinary course of business, we are periodically notified of actual or threatened litigation, and regulatory and compliance matters and investigations. We have disclosed below a number of such matters including any matters where we believe a material adverse impact on the operations or financial condition of the group is possible and the likelihood of a material outflow of resources is more than remote.

Where the outflow of resources is considered probable, and a reasonable estimate can be made of the amount of that obligation, a provision is recognised for these amounts. Where an outflow is not probable but is possible, or a reasonable estimate of the obligation cannot be made, a contingent liability exists.

In respect of each of the claims below, the nature and progression of such proceedings and investigations can make it difficult to predict the impact they will have on the group. There are many reasons why we cannot make these assessments with certainty, including, among others, that they are in early stages, no damages or remedies have been specified, and/or the often slow pace of litigation.

Class action claim - combined mobile and handset services

In November 2023, Justin Gutmann, represented by law firm Charles Lyndon applied to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to bring a proposed class action claim for damages estimated at £1.1bn (inclusive of simple interest) on behalf of customers who purchased combined handset and airtime contracts who are outside their minimum contract terms but who continue to pay the same price as during their minimum contract terms. The claim alleges this approach was an anti-competitive abuse of a dominant position. Similar claims have also been brought against Vodafone, Three and O2 with the total damages claimed £3.285bn (inclusive of simple interest). Class actions must be certified by the Competition Appeal Tribunal at a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO) hearing before proceeding to a substantive trial. A certification hearing took place in early April 2025 at which BT and the other proposed defendants contested certifications and applied to limit the time period of the claim. If the class action is certified the substantive trial will not conclude during FY26. BT intends to defend itself vigorously. At the reporting date we are not aware of any evidence to indicate that a present obligation exists such that any amount should be provided for.

Italian business

Milan Public Prosecutor prosecutions: In FY20 proceedings were initiated against BT Italia for certain potential offences, namely the charge of having adopted, from 2011 to 2016, an inadequate management and control organisation model for the purposes of Articles 5 and 25 of Legislative Decree 231/2001. BT Italia disputed this and maintained in a defence brief filed in April 2019 that: (a) BT Italia did not gain any interest or benefit from the conduct in question; and (b) in any event, it had a sufficient organisational, management and audit model that was circumvented/overridden by individuals acting in their own self-interest. The trial commenced on 26 January 2021. On 23 April 2021, the Court allowed some parties to be joined to the criminal proceedings as civil parties ('parte civile') - a procedural feature of the Italian criminal law system. These claims were directed at certain individual defendants (which include former BT/ BT Italia employees). Those parties successfully joined BT Italia as a respondent to their civil claims ('responsabile civile') on the basis that it is vicariously responsible for the individuals' wrongdoing.

The first instance phase of the trial has now concluded with the Court handing down its decision on 25 January 2024. The Court convicted certain individuals (including certain former BT Italia employees) for manipulation of BT Italia's financial statements for the financial year ending 31 March 2016 and for fraud against an Italian company, Sed Multitel S.r.l. The Court dismissed all charges that had been brought against BT Italia but ordered that BT Italia indemnify certain individual minority shareholders in the company and Sed Multitel for their losses. The Court has not quantified the indemnification amount, such that the indemnified parties must now seek to recover these amounts from BT Italia by agreement or separate civil proceedings. The quantum of those claims, if they are pursued successfully, is not anticipated to be material.

Accounting misstatement claims: a law firm acting on behalf of a group of investors has made claims under s.90A of the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000, alleging that untrue or misleading statements were made in relation to the historical irregular accounting practices in BT's Italian business (which have been the subject of previous disclosures). The claim does not specify a value, but we anticipate the claimants may seek material damages. The matter is in the early stages. As mentioned in our earlier reports, the accounting issues in Italy have previously been the subject of class actions in the US that were dismissed by the US courts.

Class action claim - landline only services

In January 2021, Justin Le Patourel, represented by law firm Mishcon de Reya applied to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to bring a proposed class action claim for damages they estimated at £608m (inclusive of compound interest) or £589m (inclusive of simple interest) alleging anti-competitive behaviour through excessive pricing by BT to customers with certain residential landline services, so-called "stand-alone fixed voice services". Following certification of the claim to proceed to trial as an opt-out claim, Justin Le Patourel amended his claim seeking £1,307m (inclusive of compound interest) or £1,278m (inclusive of simple interest). A hearing took place between January and March 2024. In December 2024, the Competition Appeal Tribunal dismissed the claim, finding that there was no abuse of a dominance position because BT's prices were not unfair. In January 2025, Justin Le Patourel applied to the Competition Appeal Tribunal for permission to appeal the judgment. In February 2025 the Competition Appeal Tribunal refused permission to appeal. In March 2025 Justin Le Patourel applied to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal the judgment. In August 2025, the Court of Appeal refused permission to appeal the Competition Appeal Tribunals judgement. We now consider this matter to be brought to a resolution and no longer recognise a contingent liability in relation to this class action claim.

Phones 4U

Since 2015 the administrators of Phones 4U Limited have made allegations that EE and other mobile network operators colluded to procure Phones 4U's insolvency. Legal proceedings for an unquantified amount were issued in December 2018 by the administrators. The trial on the question of liability/breach ran from May to July 2022. In November 2023 the High Court dismissed Phones 4U's claim in its entirety. Phones 4U subsequently appealed that judgment to the Court of Appeal and a hearing was held in May 2025 where Phone4U's appeal was rejected. We now consider this matter to be brought to a resolution and no longer recognise a contingent liability in relation to this claim.

10. Joint ventures and associates

Share of post tax loss of associates and joint ventures included in the income statement of £9m (H1 FY25: £3m loss) includes £9m loss (H1 FY25: £4m loss) relating to our sports joint venture (Sports JV) with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and net £nil profit (H1 FY25: £1m profit) relating to our other associates and joint ventures. Share of post tax other comprehensive income in associates and joint ventures amounted to £11m (H1 FY25: £4m loss), solely relating to the Sports JV, resulting in a net £2m share of total comprehensive profit for the period. The Sports JV is the only material equity-accounted investment held by the group, see below for further details.

Sports JV

In FY23, the group formed a sports joint venture with WBD, known externally as TNT Sports, which combined BT Sport and WBD's Eurosport UK business. As part of the transaction, the group's wholly owned subsidiary, British Telecommunications plc (BT plc or BT) and WBD each contributed, sub-licensed or delivered the benefit of their respective sports rights and distribution businesses for the UK & Ireland to the Sports JV. Both parties each hold a 50% interest and equal voting rights in the Sports JV.

WBD have the option to acquire BT plc's 50% interest in the Sports JV at specified points during the first four years of the Sports JV (Call Option) from FY23. The price payable under the Call Option will be 50% of the fair market value of the Sports JV to be determined at the time of the exercise, plus any unpaid fixed consideration and remaining earn-out as described below. If the Call Option is not exercised, BT plc will have the ability to exit its shareholding in the Sports JV either through a sale or IPO after the initial four-year period.

The group holds both ordinary equity shares and preference shares in the Sports JV entity, details on these are provided below. In addition, the Group has several other instruments associated with our interest in the Sports JV including, a net loan payable due to the Sports JV (£27m) and a minimum guarantee liability (£173m).

Ordinary equity shares

Our retained ordinary equity interest in the Sports JV is held under the equity method of accounting, consistent with our accounting policy on joint ventures and associates.

An impairment loss was recognised as at 30 September 2025 in respect of the Group's equity interest in the Sports JV. The impairment arose following a fair value assessment which indicated that the recoverable amount of the investment was lower than its carrying amount. The impairment reflects revised expectations of the joint venture's future underlying performance and market conditions, driving a reduction in the fair value. Changes in key assumptions relating to future performance and market conditions, could result in further impairment losses or reversals in future periods. In particular, the outcome of the renewal of TNT Sports' UEFA men's club competition rights, which were released for tender in October 2025, could have a significant impact on the future prospects and long-term viability of the business, and therefore a material impact on the value of BT's equity shareholding.

Preference shares

In addition to BT's ordinary shareholding, BT held the following investments in preference shares in the Sports JV that have not been included within the equity-accounted interest above.

A net £(18)m movement has been recorded in the group's preference share investments largely driven by a £19m earn-out payment received from the Sports JV and recorded as a repayment of our investment in A preference shares; and a net £1m fair value gain, see below for further details.

• A preference shares - a £3m fair value loss has been recognised through specific items (see note 5), primarily driven by a reduction in EBITDA, leading to lower cash available for distribution under BT's earn-out entitlement.

• C preference shares - BT's return on the shares is driven by changes in the Sports JV's sports rights portfolio which in turn is dependent on changes in the wider sports rights market and the Sports JV's financial performance and are therefore held as a financial asset at FVTPL under IFRS 9. A £4m fair value gain has been recognised through specific items (see note 5) largely driven by the effect of discounting.

11. Divestment and assets and liabilities classified as held for sale

We classify non-current assets or a group of assets and associated liabilities, together forming a disposal group, as 'held for sale' when their carrying amount will be recovered principally through disposal rather than continuing use and the sale is highly probable. A sale is highly probable when management is committed to a plan to sell and completion is expected within one year. We measure non-current assets or disposal groups classified as held for sale at the lower of carrying amount and fair value less costs of disposal. Intangible assets, property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets classified as held for sale are not depreciated or amortised.

During FY25, the group announced its intention to fully focus on UK connectivity and initiated a programme to explore options to optimise its non-core or global business. At 31 March 2025, management was committed to a plan to sell five separate businesses within our non-core or global business. The sales were considered to be highly probable and expected to complete within one year. Accordingly, the associated assets and liabilities were presented as held for sale at 31 March 2025.

One of these disposal groups, BT Communications Ireland Ltd, was disposed of during the period with no gain or loss on disposal recognised. The remaining four disposal groups continue to be classified as held for sale at 30 September 2025.

During the period, we entered into two sale agreements for the remaining disposal groups classified as held for sale. The most significant of which was for the disposal of BT Radianz to Transaction Network Services which was entered into in September 2025. The disposals are expected to complete in FY26, subject to customary closing conditions which include regulatory approvals. During the fiscal year 2024/25 the Radianz unit generated revenues of approx. £142 million.

Impairment on remeasurement of disposal groups held for sale

In accordance with IFRS 5, disposal groups are measured at the lower of their carrying amount and fair value less costs to sell. During the period, a remeasurement of certain disposal groups resulted in the recognition of an impairment loss of £27 million (H1 FY25: £nil). This has been presented as a specific item in the income statement (see Note 5). The impairment has been allocated to reduce the carrying values of intangible assets, property, plant and equipment, and right-of-use assets within the affected disposal groups.

The disposal groups held for sale comprised the following assets and liabilities:

1 Included within cash and cash equivalents of £152 million is the Group's contribution to Retelit S.p.A. in connection with the disposal of its domestic operations in Italy. Under the terms of the sale agreement, Retelit S.p.A. will acquire the Italian business in exchange for a contribution from BT, determined with reference to the agreed enterprise value.

12. Goodwill

An impairment review has been carried out across all the cash-generating units (CGUs) to which goodwill is allocated, in accordance with IAS 36 Impairment of Assets. As at 30 September 2025, no indicators of impairment have been identified that would necessitate a full impairment test (H1 FY25: nil).

13. Related party transactions

British Telecommunications plc and certain of its subsidiaries act as a funder and deposit taker for cash-related transactions for both its parent (BT Group Investments Limited) and ultimate parent company (BT Group plc). The loan arrangements described below with these companies reflect this. Cash transactions normally arise where the parent and ultimate parent company are required to meet their external payment obligations or receive amounts from third parties. These principally relate to the payment of dividends, the buyback of shares and the exercise of share options. Transactions between the ultimate parent company, the parent company and the group are settled on both a cash and non-cash basis through these loan accounts depending on the nature of the transaction.

A dividend of £1,500m was declared and settled with the parent company (FY25: £780m).

A summary of the balances with the parent and ultimate parent companies and the finance income or expense arising in respect of these balances is shown below:

Finance income on non-current assets investments decreased mainly due to changes in market rates.

British Telecommunications plc related parties include joint ventures, associates, investments and key management personnel.

Key management personnel comprise Executive and Non-Executive Directors and members of the BT Group plc Executive Committee.

Amounts paid to the group's retirement benefit plans are set out in note 6.

Associates and joint ventures related parties include the Sports JV with Warner Bros (see note 10). Sales of services to the Sports JV during H1 FY26 were £2m (31 March 2025: £9m) and purchases from the Sports JV were £160m (31 March 2025: £305m) excluding £118m (31 March 2025: £187m) additional payments made to settle the minimum guarantee liability. The amount receivable from the Sports JV as at 30 September 2025 was £nil (31 March 2025: £nil) and the amount payable to the Sports JV was £71m (31 March 2025: £97m).

As part of the FY23 BT Sport transaction, the group has committed to providing the Sports JV with a sterling Revolving Credit Facility (RCF), up to a maximum for £200m, (31 March 2025: £200m) for short-term liquidity required by the Sports JV to fund its working capital and commitments to sports rights holders. Amounts drawn down by the Sports JV under the RCF accrue interest at a market reference rate, consistent with the group's external short-term borrowings. The outstanding balance under the RCF of £nil (31 March 2025: £46m) is treated as a loan receivable and held at amortised cost. There is also a loan payable to the Sports JV of £27m (31 March 2025: £10m).

The Sports JV has a foreign exchange hedging arrangement with the group to secure Euros required to meet its commitments to certain sports rights holders; the group has external forward contracts in place to purchase the Euros at an agreed sterling rate in order to mitigate its exposure to exchange risk. The group holds a £11m (31 March 2025: £36m) derivative liability in respect of forward contracts provided to the Sports JV.

From 15 September 2025, Bharti Enterprises and its related subsidiaries are considered related parties for the purposes of BT Group's financial reporting. There were net purchases during the period to 30th September from Bharti Enterprises of £0.2m.

Transactions from commercial trading arrangements with associates and joint ventures, including the Sports JV, are shown below:

14. Principal risks and uncertainties

We maintain robust processes for identifying, evaluating and managing our risks. Whilst individual risks continue to evolve, overall we do not consider that there has been a material change to any of our principal risks and uncertainties as presented on pages 16 to 21 of the British Telecommunications plc Annual Report 2025. We split our risk landscape into Group Risk Categories ('GRCs'). These are summarised below and have the potential to have an adverse impact on our profit, assets, liquidity, capital resources and reputation.

Strategic

Strategy, technology and competition - To deliver value to our stakeholders and achieve our strategy, we must carefully manage risks around economic uncertainty, intensifying competition and rapidly changing customer and technology trends. Equally, to stay competitive and create long-term sustainable value, we must manage risks around designing and effectively implementing the right strategy - and incorporating it into our business plans.

Transformation delivery - We're speeding up our transformation to make us simpler, more efficient and dynamic. This includes building brilliant sales and service journeys to connect customers to future products on modern IT and then retiring old infrastructure. This will improve customer and colleague experience and save money. To succeed, we have to manage risks around transformation delivery and whether we'll realise the associated benefits. Not managing these risks could make us less efficient, damaging our financial performance, and customer experience.

Financial

Financing - We carefully manage risks which might result in us not being able to meet our payment commitments. They could come from not generating enough cash, being unable to refinance existing debt or paying increased pension scheme contributions. We also manage risks around defining and executing the right insurance strategy.

Financial control - Our financial controls help us prevent fraud and report accurately. If these failed we could lose money or materially misrepresent our financial position. We might fail to apply the correct accounting principles and treatment or pay our taxes. That could lead to financial misstatement, fines, legal disputes and reputational damage.

Compliance

Legal and regulatory compliance - We focus on communications regulation, competition law, anti-bribery and corruption measures, international trade controls, financial services compliance and corporate governance responsibilities, and managing risks in those areas. Other relevant laws and regulations are covered in other GRCs.

Data and AI - We must follow today's global data and AI regulations while anticipating and preparing for tomorrow's. That means actively managing risks like privacy, data architecture, processing and retention. Our data and AI strategy aims to deliver value and efficiency - while giving us a framework to manage compliance risks related to data and AI regulations.

Operational

Operational resilience - We want to deliver best-in-class performance for our customers, across our fixed and mobile networks and IT. That means being operationally resilient and managing any risk that could disrupt our services. Service disruptions could be caused by external events, like bad weather, as well as poorly maintained assets. Some service disruption might depend on suppliers' and partners' reliability - making it important to carefully manage the risks.

Cyber security - A cyber-attack (external or internal) could disrupt customers and the country - and compromise data. We manage security risks that might lead to our assets or services losing their confidentiality, integrity or availability. These include applicable regulatory or contractual obligations. A poorly managed cyber security event might cost us money, damage our reputation and affect our market share. The regulator might also impose fines or penalties.

People - Our colleagues are key to delivering our ambition. Our people strategy is to create a culture where everyone can perform and be their best. That means us managing risks around our talent management lifecycle, skills and capabilities, engagement, culture, wellbeing and inclusion.

Health, safety and environment - We have diverse operations and working environments in various locations. Some of them pose risks to health, safety and the environment (HSE). We must make sure colleagues and partners are safe and healthy and can perform at their best while managing risk effectively.

We're committed to maintaining and continually improving the right HSE management systems. They make sure our business is safe and compliant, while protecting the environment and those who we might affect.

Major customer contracts - In a dynamic, highly competitive environment, we want to win and keep major private and public sector contracts. We do that while navigating customer relationships and risk in complex agreements - delivering highly sensitive, critical or essential services globally. Customer contractual terms can be onerous and challenging to meet, leading to delays, penalties and disputes. Delivery or service failures against obligations and commitments could damage our brand and reputation, particularly for critical infrastructure contracts or security and data protection services.

Supply management - We have lots of suppliers. Successfully selecting, bringing on board and managing them is essential for us to deliver quality products and services. We must make decisions about suppliers on concentration, capability, resilience, security, sustainability, cost and broader issues that could affect our business and reputation.

15. Adjustments to prior period published financial information: Formation of International CFU and segmental re-presentations

We have re-presented certain H1 FY25 comparatives to reflect changes in the Group's internal reporting structure. The International CFU was separated from Business forming a new CFU, effective from 1 July 2025.

In addition, two re-presentations have been made to segmental revenue reporting, consistent with the information now provided to the BT Group Executive Committee, which is the key management committee and represents the 'chief operating decision maker' (CODM):

• Certain Openreach pass-through services previously reported as external revenue in Business have been reclassified to Openreach to reflect the customer relationship. As a result of this change the prior year comparatives have been re-presented to present revenue on a consistent basis resulting in a £46m reduction in Business segment revenue for the half year to 30 September 2024, with no impact on Openreach segmental revenue due to the intra-group nature of the transaction.

• Following an update to the commercial terms governing a trading relationship between EE and BT Wholesale, BT Wholesale will now recognise services provided to EE as part of this trading relationship as intersegment revenue. Previously, these services were internally reported as cost recovery. This change results in the recognition of revenue within the Business segment. As a result of this change the prior year comparatives have been re-presented to present revenue and cost for the segment on a consistent basis. The effect of this change is to increase Business revenue by £42m, with a corresponding increase in cost.

Further to the re-presentations made during the period, we have revised the presentation of the disaggregation of external revenue. This change reflects the internal reporting structure provided to the CODM. Revenue previously reported under "Equipment and Other Services" has now been split into two separate categories: "Equipment" and "Other Services", to provide greater clarity on the nature of the revenue streams. In addition, lease revenue has been separately disclosed to reflect its distinct contractual characteristics. Disaggregation of revenue now includes internal revenue to better reflect the performance of each segment, consistent with the information reviewed by the CODM for decision-making purposes. Finally, as part of our ongoing improvement of finance systems, we now have access to more granular information with which to better align revenue categories. Accordingly, we have re-presented the disaggregated revenue in note 3 to reflect this enhanced reporting.

As explained in note 1 to the condensed consolidated financial statements (page 13) the H1 FY25 comparatives have been re-presented to reflect these changes in line with IFRS accounting requirements. These adjustments are reflected in the operating review section of the release and the condensed consolidated financial statements.

The tables below presents a bridge between the results presented in the Results for the half year to 30 September 2024 (published on 18 November 2024) and the re-presented H1 FY25 comparatives presented within this release.

2. Operating results - by customer facing unit