BT full-year earnings beat forecasts helped by fibre broadband

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - BT Group (LSE: BT-A.L - news) posted a better than expected 3 percent rise in full-year earnings and raised its outlook for free cash flow after a strong finish to the year, when it connected a record 455,000 fibre broadband customers.

The British broadband market leader, which is buying the country's biggest mobile network EE, reported core earnings of 6.27 billion pounds ($9.6 billion), beating market expectations of 6.22 billion pounds. Underlying revenue fell 2 percent at 17.85 billion pounds.

($1 = 0.6560 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by David Clarke)