Topic: How To Invest

The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, November 3, 2017

Article Excerpt

BCE INC., $60.58, Toronto symbol BCE, is Canada’s largest traditional telephone service provider, with 6.4 million customers in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces. It also has 3.8 million high-speed Internet users and 2.8 million TV subscribers. In addition, the company sells wireless services to 9.0 million users across Canada, and owns TV and radio stations. In March 2017, BCE completed its acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services. That utility has 1.3 million telephone and wireless customers in Manitoba. BCE paid $3.9 billion, including Manitoba Telecom’s debt of $972 million. If you exclude costs related to this purchase and other unusual items, BCE’s earnings in the quarter ended September 30, 2017, rose 1.9%, to $799 million from $784 million a year earlier. But due to more shares outstanding, per-share profits fell 3.3%, to $0.88 from $0.91, on more shares outstanding. Even so, that beat the consensus estimate of $0.84. Revenue improved 5.0%, to $5.7 billion from $5.4 billion. The company’s heavy investments in its…