BT share price: Company to hire new engineers in Scotland

BT Group Plc (LON:BT.A) yesterday announced plans to recruit 112 engineers across Scotland in order to bolster the local arm of its network business Openreach as demand for its services increases. The telecoms giant said that a third of the jobs would be based in the Highlands and Islands and the north east.

The new recruits will help build and maintain broadband infrastructure across Scotland and deliver fibre products and services into homes and offices. BT will also invest £126 million in the digital Scotland superfast broadband fibre rollout.
Fraser Rowberry, general manager of Openreach in Scotland, commented: “Millions of Scots depend on our services and rely on us to keep them connected.” He continued: “Our engineers are passing another 5,000 Scottish premises a week with fibre broadband at the same time as completing 12,000 jobs a week to install new lines, repair faults and keep people and businesses connected.”
He also revealed that Openreach intended to hire around 500 more front-line engineers across the UK this year and added that he was delighted that “such a high proportion of this recruitment will be in Scotland”.
Over the past financial year Openreach recruited 260 engineers in Scotland and currently employs 2,800 people in the country.
In today’s trading, BT shares were down 0.2 percent at 467.00p, as of 08:33 BST. The stock has risen 16.4 percent since the start of the year, boosting the company’s market capitalisation to almost £39 billion.
The 18 analysts offering 12 month price targets for BT have a median target of 519.00p, with a high estimate of 600.00p and a low estimate of 355.00p. As of June 19, 2015, the consensus forecast amongst 23 polled investment analysts covering BT had it that the company will outperform the market. This consensus estimate has been maintained since November 05, 2013, when the sentiment of investment analysts improved from “hold”.
As of 10:19 BST, Wednesday, 24 June, BT Group plc share price is 466.55p.