Telecoms group BT logs drop in profits

British telecoms company BT, which recently entered the market for the broadcasting of live television sport, announced on Thursday a drop in quarterly profits. From next month, BT will begin televising some live English Premier League football matches. The group said that profit before tax dropped 16 percent to £449 million ($690 million, 522 million euros) in the its first quarter, or three months to June 30, compared with the outcome a year earlier. Sales fell one percent to £4.45 billion in the reporting period and pre-tax profit excluding specific items rose 5.0 percent, BT added in an earnings statement. "BT continues to make good progress, delivering another quarter of solid growth in underlying profit before tax," said chief executive Ian Livingston, who recently announced he was leaving the post later in the year to become Britain's trade minister. BT, which provides telephone and Internet services to households and businesses throughout Britain, will be competing with established British pay-TV satellite broadcaster Sky and cable giant Virgin Media to attract Premier League football fans to its new channel.