Narrower focus works for Telus

Article Excerpt

Dear Client: Telus—unlike its main competitors, BCE and Rogers—prefers to concentrate on its core telecom businesses instead of diversifying into other areas such as TV broadcasting and sports teams. That strategy has let it focus on improving customer service and getting subscribers to buy more services. It should also continue to push up Telus’s share price and its dividend. TELUS CORP. $46 (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 595.0 million; Market cap: $27.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) has 8.9 million subscribers and is Canada’s third-largest wireless carrier after Rogers (No. 1) and Bell Mobility (No. 2). The wireless business supplies about 55% of its revenue, and 65% of its earnings. The remaining 45% of revenue and 35% of earnings comes from Telus’s wireline business. That operation has 1.3 million landline phone customers in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec as well as 1.8 million Internet users and 1.1 million TV customers. Due to…