Saudia Arabia builds stake in BT as part of pandemic bargain hunt

Linda J. Dodson

Chief executive Philip Jansen has been attempting to engineer a shift in the company’s core shareholders away from its traditional base of City pension funds focused on dividend income.

After suspending the payout this year and cutting next year’s by a third, he aims to repeat his success at the payments processor Worldpay in attracting investors such as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Such funds tend to be more sanguine about dividend income and focused instead on long-term growth opportunities.

It signals mounting frustration at BT about the company’s depressed share price. Mr Jansen argues the rollout of full-fibre by the network subsidiary Openreach will create a valuable shift towards the sort of prized returns offered by water and power companies.

The market is yet to be persuaded, however, as he attempts to secure the regulatory framework for the new technology and BT faces a revaluation of the funding deficit in its £60bn pension scheme in the coming months.

In an effort to underpin the investment case for full-fibre and his vision of BT’s future, Mr Jansen is attempting to convince Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, to allow wholesale discounts for major broadband retailers such as Sky to encourage them to sign long-term contracts.

The plan has prompted ­competition concerns, not least from smaller rivals who aim to challenge Openreach and fear being shut out.

Saudi Arabia is believed to be taking a position in BT as it places bets around the world on companies it believes are fundamentally strong in an effort to reduce its dependence on oil revenues.

Since coronavirus hit, the PIF has disclosed stakes in BP, Shell, Boeing, Live Nation, Disney, Facebook and the Indian telecoms operator Jio Platforms.

BT and the PIF both declined to comment.

Source Article

Next Post

The UK’s jobs nightmare is only just beginning

The impact of this hidden unemployment surge varies not just between the private and public sectors but across different places, of course, with already deprived areas – including inner-cities and former industrial heartlands – suffering most. There are now at least 50 claimant count unemployed chasing each job in places […]