BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen bowed out on a high note today after revealing a 3% rise in annual underlying profits to £5.78 billion.

Mr Verwaayen, who has been credited with reviving the telecoms group in his six years at the helm, said BT finished the year "in style" with a strong fourth quarter, including at its division providing IT and telecoms services.

The 56-year-old Dutchman is due to make way for BT Retail boss Ian Livingston at the end of this month. However, his final set of results were well received in the City, with BT shares up 1% after fourth quarter revenues of £5.42 billion came in ahead of market expectations.

Around 42% of sales came from new wave revenues, such as broadband and IT services for major corporations.

The company said BT Retail remained the UK's biggest retail broadband provider with a customer base of 4.4 million at the end of March.