BT will cut 13,000 managerial and back-office jobs and move to a smaller London base in the latest attempt by the boss of Britain’s biggest telecoms group to rebuild from an accounting scandal and downturn in trading.
Chief Executive Gavin Patterson sought to placate shareholders by maintaining BT’s dividend and agreeing a new pension funding plan but a forecast that it would take up to three years to return to profit growth sent the shares down 9 percent.
Traders said guidance for the current financial year was lower than expected, while fourth-quarter revenue fell short of targets, showing the challenges facing Patterson as he seeks to rebuild a group that employs more than 100,000 staff.
BT, which owns Britain’s biggest mobile operator EE, said it would hire about 6,000 new engineers and front line customer service staff to support its roll out of fiber and 5G networks.
Patterson, in the role since 2013, said the restructuring,…