Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action Suit Against BT Group plc

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2017

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than March 27, 2017.  If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or Mario Alba Jr. of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com.  If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/btgroup/.  Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges BT Group and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  BT Group provides telecommunications services to its customers worldwide.  The Company is headquartered in London, England.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material adverse information regarding BT Group's business and prospects, including: (i) that the Company's Italian business, which is a part of BT Group's Global Services division, was overstating earnings over a number of years; (ii) that the Company was engaging in improper accounting practices, which included a complex set of improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions; (iii) that BT Group's internal controls were so materially inadequate that its reported results were not reliable; and (iv) that due to the foregoing, defendants were forced to take a write down of approximately £530 million and lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about BT Group's then-current business and future financial prospects.

On October 27, 2016, BT Group issued a press release announcing its financial results for the fiscal second quarter, the period ending September 30, 2016.  Moreover, the Company announced that BT Group would have to take a write down of approximately £145 million due to "certain historical accounting errors" at its BT Italia division. 

On January 24, 2017, the Company issued a press release announcing an update of its investigation into BT's Italian business and its revised outlook.  According to the press release, the Company stated that it now expected to take a write down of approximately £530 million – almost four times the original amount the Company estimated a few months prior.  In reaction to this, and other related announcements, the price of BT Group American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") fell 21%, to close at $19.38 per ADR, on extremely heavy trading volume.