New wireless customers fuel their growth

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $59.67 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 870.9 million; Market cap: $53.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest telephone service provider, with 6.5 million customers in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. It also has 3.5 million high-speed Internet users, 2.7 million TV subscribers and 8.5 million cellphone subscribers. In the quarter ended December 31, 2016, BCE’s earnings per share rose 5.6%, to $0.76 from $0.72 a year earlier. Revenue increased 1.8%, to $5.7 billion from $5.6 billion. In the latest quarter, BCE added 112,393 wireless subscribers under long-term contracts, net of cancellations. That’s up 23.1% from 91,308 a year earlier. The gain is mainly due to successful promotions during the holiday shopping season. The company also added 54,307 highspeed Internet and Fibe TV customers, net of cancellations. Those gains helped BCE offset a 6.4 % decline in the number of traditional telephone customers. The company has now completed its $3.9 billion acquisition of Manitoba Telecom. That…