Canadian telecom company BCE Inc. (BCE,BCE.TO) on Thursday reported a 14 percent increase in profit for the first quarter on strong growth in its wireless and media segments.
Earnings per share beat analysts' estimates, while revenues missed their expectations. Looking ahead, the company maintained its earnings outlook for fiscal 2012.
The company's wireless operating revenues for the quarter grew 5.5 percent, while wireline operating revenues declined 3.5 percent.
Bell Aliant's revenues remained flat with last year. Bell Media, formed after the acquisitions of CTV in April 2011, contributed operating revenues of C$512 million.
George Cope, president and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE said, "The Bell team's successful execution of our Strategic Imperatives resulted in solid Q1 financial performance, with significant growth in Bell revenue and EBITDA reflecting especially strong contributions by Bell Wireless and Bell Media."
Postpaid net activations for the quarter totaled 62,576 as smartphone adoption continued to accelerate. Smartphone users represented 52 percent of total postpaid subscribers, up from 34 percent in the year-ago period.
Blended average revenue per user or ARPU rose 4.2 percent year-over-year to C$53.84, reflecting strong data revenue growth of 31 percent driven by accelerating smartphone adoption and usage. Blended churn rate declined to 1.8 percent from 1.9 percent last year.
The parent company of Bell Canada reported net earnings for the quarter of C$574 million or C$0.74 per share, up from C$503 million or C$0.67 per share in the year-ago period.
Adjusted net earnings rose to C$580 million or C$0.75 per share from C$543 million or C$0.72 in the prior-year quarter.
On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of C$0.72 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Operating revenues for the quarter grew 9.8 percent to C$4.91 billion from C$4.47 billion a year ago. Analysts had a consensus estimate of C$4.96 billion.
Operating revenues for Bell Canada, including the Bell Wireless and Bell Wireline segments, grew 11.6 percent to C$4.33 billion, reflecting strong contributions from Bell Wireless and Bell Media. These growth services offset lower wireline revenue, reflecting continued decline in local and long-distance voice services.
Looking ahead to fiscal 2012, BCE maintained its outlook for adjusted earnings in a range of C$3.13 to C$3.18 per share. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of C$3.16 per share.
BCE's board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.5425 per common share. The dividend is payable on July 15, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 15, 2012.
Separately, BCE said that more than 3 million customers now subscribe to Bell Canada and Bell Aliant Internet services in Quebec, Ontario and Atlantic Canada.
The company said it is investing more than $3 billion a year to roll out new broadband network technology and predicted that the total number of customers will continue to grow in 2012.
In Thursday's session, BCE.TO is trading at C$40.29, down C$0.01 or 0.02 percent on 152,180 shares.
On the NYSE, BCE is trading at $40.69, down $0.12 or 0.30 percent on 106,836 shares.
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