BT share price: Telco to shut offices across UK

BT Group (LON:BT.A) is set to shut offices in more than 270 locations across the UK, the Guardian has reported. The move will come with the former telecoms monopoly looking to cut £1.5 billion in costs.

BT’s share price has slipped marginally lower in today’s session, having inched 0.17 percent lower to 201.30p as of 14:31 BST. The stock is underperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index having climbed into positive territory and currently standing 0.32 percent higher at 7,237.43 points. The group’s shares have given up a little more than two percent of their value over the past year, as compared with a near six-percent fall in the Footsie.

BT to shut offices

The Guardian reported today that BT was to cut the number of locations across the UK where it has offices to 30, marking a more than 90-percent reduction in its UK property footprint. The newspaper noted that the telco’s chief executive Philip Jansen had explained the move was “about bringing our people together in brilliant spaces, and transforming the way we work”.

Prospect, one of the largest unions representing BT workers, said the closure of so many offices needed to be handled carefully.

“Moving from an estate of over 300 locations to around 30 by 2023 poses a huge logistical challenge for all concerned,” said Noel McClean, Prospect’s national secretary, as quoted by the Guardian.

Analysts on telco

Credit Suisse lifted its rating on BT from ‘neutral’ to ‘outperform’ today, hiking its valuation on the shares from 270p to 280p. Proactive Investors quoted the broker as pointing to a “much increased level of confidence” in the company’s ability to return to sustainable earnings growth from the 2021 financial year.

According to MarketBeat, the former telecoms monopoly currently boasts a ‘buy,’ rating, while the average target on the BT share price stands at 271.83p.