BT shares fell sharply on Friday, 6 November, giving back almost all of the previous day's results-driven gains as London's biggest companies slid.

From eight-year high to Friday fall

BT had reached its highest London share price in eight years on Thursday after first-half results beat market expectations. The shares touched 240.50p during the session before closing slightly higher, according to a Cinco Días report carried by ad-hoc news.

On Friday the mood reversed. The shares closed at 217p, down 14.8p, or about 6.4%, from Thursday's close of 231.8p, leaving BT among the biggest fallers in the FTSE 100. Sharecast reported the stock down 5.5% at 217.70p in afternoon trade as the wider market fell.

Results beat expectations

BT reported first-half profit before tax of £1.07 billion for the six months to 30 September, up from £956 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 0.6% to £8.75 billion, while second-quarter adjusted revenue of £4.43 billion beat the £4.314 billion market consensus. Adjusted second-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 2.5% to £2.08 billion, ahead of the £2.022 billion consensus.

Openreach, the regulated network arm, added 1.1 million net fibre-to-the-premises connections in the half, taking connected premises above 10 million in October. Average revenue per user at the division rose 7% year on year to £17.80.

Pension deal and outlook

BT also agreed a three-year pension arrangement cutting its deficit from £3.7 billion to £2.7 billion, which could allow shareholder distributions of up to £1.5 billion in the 2027 financial year. The company kept its full-year free cash flow target of £2 billion and raised its savings target for 2030 to £3.5 billion.

Deutsche Bank, however, restated its sell rating on the stock on Friday, with a 150p price target.