BT unveils £134 million loss; axes another 15,000 jobs

14 May 2009

Privatised UK state telecom giant, British Telecom, stung by a £134-million full year loss in the last financial year, today said that it would cut another 15,000 jobs over the next 12 months after suffering huge losses at is 'global services' division.

In November, the company had said that it would slash 10,000 jobs by year-end with pre-tax profits tumbling 11 per cent in the first six months of the year. This was over and above the 4,000 jobs already slashed in September.

In a bid to save £1 billion in costs in the coming year, the telecom giant said that the majority of job cuts this time would be in the UK.

BT has axed 5,000 jobs more than what was reported by the media last month. In April, the company had said that it is likely to shed 10,000 jobs and scale back its dividend when it announces its preliminary results in May. (See: British Telecom to cut 10,000 more jobs; slash dividend: report)

The company, which has a total workforce of around 160,000 in 170 countries, said that the performance of Global Services, which employs about 37,000 people, was once viewed as the "jewel in the crown" at BT, but since October, it has triggered two profits warnings.

The company said that it will take charge of £1.3 billion because of the completion of contract and completes financial reviews in BT Global Services.