BT 2012 Annual Report Download - page 5

2Overview
Our pension fund
One of our biggest responsibilities is to our
pension fund and I am pleased that we have
agreed the 2011 triennial funding valuation
and recovery plan with the Trustee. Because of
our improved financial performance we were
able to make a lump sum payment of £2bn
into the fund, giving greater certainty to our
pensioners and helping to reduce the size of
future deficit payments we would otherwise
have to make.
Our people and the Board
As a result of our progress over the last
three years, around 20,000 of our people
stand to benefit from their employee share
plans in 2013. We are also recognising the
achievements in our UK business by paying
each of our UK team members a £250 bonus in
addition to their normal pay increase.
Since I joined BT I have worked to streamline
and refresh the Board, to make sure we have
the right team to deliver our objectives. You
can read about the changes in the Governance
section of this report.
Our future
While our aim remains to drive profitable
revenue growth, the challenging environment
we are facing makes this more difficult, but we
believe our strategy will continue to deliver
long-term value for our shareholders.
Sir Michael Rake
Chairman
9 May 2012
We have made
significant progress
for all our stakeholders
this year.
Our shareholders
We have delivered a very strong performance
over the last three years. This means we have
been able to pay sustainable and progressive
dividends. For 2012 the Board is proposing a
final dividend of 5.7p, up 14%, giving a full
year dividend of 8.3p, up 12% over last year.
We continue to pursue a prudent financial
strategy, to make sure we can invest in the
business, support our pension scheme, reduce
net debt and reward you, our shareholders. By
following this approach we expect to be able
to grow dividends by 10%– 15% per year for
the next three years.
Our contribution to the UK
We contribute to the UK directly and indirectly
in many ways. We look after the critical copper
access network, employ over 73,000 people,
contribute around £3bn a year in taxes, and are
major investors in research and development.
The roll-out of our fibre network is one of the
fastest privately funded programmes in the
world. We are bringing fibre broadband to
cities, towns and rural areas across the UK and
aim to pass around two-thirds of UK premises
by the end of 2014. This will dramatically
change consumers’ online experience and
enhance the way businesses can operate,
bringing significant economic benefits to
ourcountry.
As official communications services partner
of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games we are contributing vital infrastructure,
delivering a single communications network
across 94 locations to make this the most
connected Games ever. And we are delivering
the project on schedule.
Our global presence
We serve some of the largest companies in
the world, but the regulatory backdrop often
means we can’t serve customers as efficiently
as we want to. So internationally we continue
to press for policy and regulatory change,
with the aim of achieving a competitive
level playing field – in particular, open and
fair wholesale access to communications
networks. We only seek across the world
similar conditions to those in the UK. There has
been progress, but we want to see this move
faster as it is vital to innovation, growth and
jobsworldwide.
Our communities
We believe we have a responsibility to give
something back to the communities in which
we operate – through contributions of over
£30m in time, cash and in-kind support,
through some 50,000 days of employee
volunteering, through our environmental and
energy savings programmes, and through
support for charities such as Sport Relief and
digital inclusion initiatives, we contribute to
making a better future for our communities.
Chairman’s introduction
Watch my video online at
www.bt.com/annualreport
Overview
BusinessStrategy
Performance
Governance
Financial statements
Additional information Overview
BusinessStrategy
Performance
Governance
Financial statements
Additional information