5G investments prepare them for growth

Article Excerpt

BCE and Telus are high-quality telecoms, and their businesses were well-prepared to withstand COVID-19 slowdowns. Longer term, recent launches of their new ultrafast 5G wireless networks provide strong growth prospects and should boost cash flow to pay for dividend increases. TELUS, $27.86 (Toronto symbol T; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $38.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.5%; www.telus.com) gives you a stake in a wireless business that has 11.0 million subscribers. It also has 1.1 million landline phone customers in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec as well as 2.2 million Internet users and 1.2 million TV customers. Telus’s revenue in the three months ended June 30, 2021, rose 10.3%, to $4.11 billion from $3.73 billion a year earlier. The COVID-19 lockdowns have spurred strong demand for the company’s home Internet services. Earnings per share in the latest quarter rose 4.0%, to $0.26 from $0.25. Telus has agreed to pay $1.95 billion for new wireless spectrum as part of the Canadian…