BT share price: Group benefits from last year’s cyber attack on TalkTalk

BT Group (LON:BT.A) appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the cyberattack on smaller London-listed rival TalkTalk (LON:TALK) last year, The Times has reported, quoting industry data. The former telecoms monopoly scooped up 40 percent of the customers who left following the data breach.

BT’s share price fell 1.03 percent to close at 398.50p yesterday, underperforming the benchmark FTSE 100 index which shed 15.93 points to close 0.24 percent lower at 6,654.47. The telco’s shares have lost just under 14 percent of their value over the past year, as compared with a 0.28-percent drop in the Footsie.
The Times reported yesterday that data by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech had shown that BT had scooped up 40 percent of the customers who left TalkTalk in the wake of last year’s cyber attack.

“BT benefited more than anyone from TalkTalk’s data hacking scandal last year, with 40 percent of those leaving TalkTalk moving to BT in the months after the data breach,” Fiona Keenan, strategic insight director at Kantar, commented, as quoted by the newspaper. “With such a solid reputation, BT has been able to tap into its sizeable broadband base and cross-sell its television propositions, using the lure of premium football content to entice customers new to the brand.”
The news comes after BT moved to offer Premier League and Champions League football to EE’s huge customer base as it steps up the fight with FTSE 100 rival Sky (LON:SKY) which is currently preparing to enter the mobile market.
Analysts meanwhile remain upbeat on the former telecoms monopoly with Haitong Bank reiterating its ‘buy’ rating on the stock yesterday, with a price target of 600p. BT is scheduled to update investors on its first-quarter performance on July 28.
As of 07:44 BST, Friday, 15 July, BT Group plc share price is 398.50p.