UK incumbent BT’s shares have been downgraded to ‘underperform’ from ‘marketperform’ by Sanford C Bernstein, which warned over the telco’s pension liabilities.
According to the broker, future pension deficit repayments could push down BT’s share price,…
UK incumbent BT’s shares have been downgraded to ‘underperform’ from ‘marketperform’ by Sanford C Bernstein, which warned over the telco’s pension liabilities.
According to the broker, future pension deficit repayments could push down BT’s share price, which it said are currently priced at a 15% premium to the sector. BT’s shares closed at 146.9p yesterday, after peaking last week at more than 151p because of a positive note from JP Morgan. BT currently has a market cap of around £11.4bn.
In the group’s Q1 2010, the company said its pension deficit totalled £6.6bn at March 31, 2010. BT’s Pension Scheme Trustees have agreed with BT to make annual payments of £525m a year.
A spokesman for BT declined to comment on the downgrade.
