BT increases Italian write-down estimate to £530m

BT has said that “inappropriate behaviour” related to accounting practices at its Italian operations will result in a three-times greater write-down in costs than it originally thought.

Following an investigation and an independent review by KPMG, BT said it now expects to make write-downs of roughly £530m.

The revised figure comes after it announced last October that “certain historical accounting errors and areas of management judgement requiring reassessment” would result in write down of items on its balance sheet by £145m.

“The adjustments identified have increased from the £145m announced in our half-year update to a total of around £530m. We are still evaluating what proportion of the total adjustments should be treated as prior year errors, and what proportion should be treated as the reassessment in the current year of management estimates,” said BT in a statement.

BT Group CEO, Gavin Patterson, said: “We are deeply disappointed with the improper practices which we have found in our Italian business. We have undertaken extensive investigations into that business and are committed to ensuring the highest standards across the whole of BT for the benefit of our customers, shareholders, employees and all other stakeholders.”

BT’s shareprice dropped more than 20% yesterday following the announcement.