BT Group PLC Investigated For Securities Fraud By Block & Leviton

BOSTON, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Block & Leviton LLP (www.blockesq.com), a securities litigation firm representing investors nationwide, is investigating whether BT Group PLC (NYSE: BT) and certain of its officers and directors violated federal securities laws.

On January 24, 2017, BT Group issued a press release providing an update on the Company's internal investigation into historical accounting errors and "areas of management judgement requiring reassessment" at its Italian business.  When the investigation was initially announced on October 27, 2016, the Company estimated that the eventual balance sheet write down to correct the Italian difficulties would be £145 million.

However, in the January 24, 2017 release, the Company revealed for the first time that the expected accounting adjustments would be nearly four times larger, £530 million, and that the Company was still evaluating what proportion of the total adjustments would be treated as prior year errors and what proportion would be treated as a current year reassessment.  Its independent reviewer KPMG found that "the extent and complexity of inappropriate behavior in the Italian business were greater than previously identified."

Additionally, BT Group announced that it expects the Italian accounting irregularities to reduce its Q3 adjusted revenue and adjusted EBITDA by approximately £120 million and to reduce its Q3 normalized cash flow by approximately £100 million.  The Company acknowledged that for 2016-2017, it expects to experience a total decrease in adjusted revenue of £200 million, decreased adjusted EBITDA of £175 million, and up to £500 million in decreased normalized cash flow.

As the market absorbed the news, shares of BT Group's stock plummeted, falling over 20% in a single day, a drop which wiped out over $9 billion in market value in just hours.

If you have recently purchased or otherwise acquired BT Group ADRs on an American stock exchange and have questions about your legal rights or possess information relevant to this investigation, please contact attorney Steven Harte at (617) 398-5600 or by email at steven@blockesq.com. Confidentiality to whistleblowers or others with information relevant to the lawsuit is assured.

Block & Leviton LLP's lawyers have collectively been prosecuting securities cases on behalf of individual and institutional investors for over 70 years, and have recovered billions of dollars on their behalf. Block & Leviton's investigations into corporate wrongdoing were recently covered by the New York Times.

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CONTACT:

Block & Leviton LLP
Steven P. Harte
155 Federal Street, Suite 400
Boston, MA 02110
(617) 398-5600
steven@blockesq.com

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SOURCE Block & Leviton LLP