BT, the UK telecoms company that has reported third-quarter results in line with expectations, has improved its chances of a rating upgrade by bringing its debt pile down significantly.

BT reported net debt of £13.1bn (€20.5bn), which was less than expected. Merrill Lynch's telecoms equity research team, which has a "buy" recommendation on BT's shares, said that net debt was "better than our expectations due to a combination of higher Ebitda and lower capital expenditure". BT's share price rose by 4% to 196p on Thursday during London trading.