BT Group cut its dividend and said a further 15,000 jobs would go after a £1.58 billion writedown and restructuring at its Global Services unit drove it to a fourth quarter loss.

The group, which had for years looked for growth at the Global Services unit which supplies the IT needs of multinational companies, also said it would almost double its pension contributions to £525 million a year.

BT, which had previously twice warned about profits at the Global Services unit, said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and contract and financial review charges were £1.35 billion.

Profit before tax on an adjusted basis was down 40 per cent and on a reported basis showed a £1.28 billion loss. To help meet its increased pension obligations, BT cut its final dividend to 1.1 pence to give a full year dividend of 6.5 pence, which was down 59 per cent on last year.

It will pay £525 million a year into its pension scheme for the next three financial years.

The group has been conducting a three-year review of its pension scheme but did not give any further details on the review's findings.