UPDATE: Barclays Upgrades BT Group Due to Accelerated Rollout

In a report published on Friday, analysts from Barclays upgraded the rating on BT Group BT from Equal Weight to Overweight. In the report, lead analyst Maurice Patrick commented that, "We expect the uptake of Fibre and accelerated rollout to generate materially higher free cash flow upside for BT, especially when elevated capex inevitably rolls off as the rollout finishes in three to four years. Combined with falling interest/tax rates, and continued cost-cutting, this implies BT group FCF (pre pension) of £3-£3.5bn in the next few years from £2.3bn in FY14E (we model >£3bn in FY17E). The upcoming Ofcom wholesale review presents some near-term risk, but we see <£100m/year exposure for BT. We raise our rating to OW from EW and our PT to 360p from 300p." BT Group closed on Thursday at $47.18