BT director boosts stake

Jasmine Whitbread, a non-executive at BT, the FTSE 100 telecoms giant, has phoned up for a stack of shares just days after the firm unveiled a surprise 48% leap in third quarter profits, and announced that it would hit its 2013 earnings target a year early.

Whitbread, who has been on the board at BT for just over a year, added 2,300 shares for 2.14878p each, bringing her total number of shares to 2,940.

BT's pre-tax profits (PTP) rose from £441m last year to £652m in the three months to December 31st. Over the first three quarters, PTP totalled £4,455m, up 18% on the previous year.

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However, revenue totalled £4,774m in the quarter, down 5% from £5,038m the year before and 3% lower on an underlying basis (which excludes transit). Nine-month revenues are 4% last year at £14,432m, down 1.8% on an underlying basis.

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