Updates on TELUS, BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA and MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC.

Article Excerpt

TELUS $54.45 (Toronto symbol T.A; Shares outstanding: 324.5 million; Market cap: $17.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.telus.com) continues to benefit from rising smartphone demand. Smartphone users now account for 48% of its wireless subscribers, up from 28% a year ago. In the three months ended September 30, 2011, Telus added 114,000 new wireless subscribers, down 25.5% from 153,000 a year earlier. However, 70% of these new long-term customers use smartphones. That pushed up demand for data services, such as web browsing. As a result, Telus’s revenue rose 6.5% in the quarter, to $2.6 billion. Earnings per share rose 28.2%, to $1.00 from $0.78. Telus has raised its quarterly dividend by 5.5%, to $0.58 a share from $0.55. The shares yield 4.3%. Telus Corp. is still a buy. BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $51.84 (Toronto symbol BNS: Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $57.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.0%, www.scotiabank.com) is thinking about selling Scotia Plaza, its 68-storey office building…