BT has cut almost 8,000 jobs since the end of March as it pushes ahead with sweeping cost reductions across the business.

The telecoms group said its workforce had fallen by 7,731 to 90,000, excluding staff in its international business, which is being spun out in a joint venture with the US telecoms company Verizon. It had a workforce of about 130,000 people, including contractors, two years ago.

Most of the cuts have been at BT’s Openreach division as the buildout of its fibre network slows, as well as through a drive to slash billions in costs by 2030.

The huge cuts helped BT increase its pre-tax profit by 12% year on year to £1.1bn in the six months to the end of September.

BT shares, which are listed in London, shot up by as much as 6% in early trading on Thursday, touching a five-year high and ranking it among the best performers across the FTSE 100.

Most of the job cuts have been at BT’s Openreach division.…