BCE (TSE:BCE) fluctuated between gains and losses as Canada’s largest telecommunications company reported second-quarter earnings in line with analysts’ expectations.
Shares were up 0.3 percent at $54.30 at 1:51 p.m. in Toronto. The stock is up 1.7 percent this year.
Net income rose 25 percent to C$759 million, or C$0.90 per diluted share, in the April-to-June quarter, from C$606 million, or C$0.78 per diluted share, a year earlier, the Montreal, Quebec-based company said in a statement today.
Adjusted earnings per share increased 6.1% to C$0.87, in line with the average estimate of 10 analysts polled by Capital IQ.
BCE’s revenue rose 2 percent to C$5.33 billion, slightly above the C$5.31 billion average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Capital IQ.
BCE gained 61,033 new wireless users, compared with the 59,600 average of eight estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Bell added 18,606 net Internet connections and signed up more than 50,000 customers for its Internet-based TV product. It shed close to 34,000 satellite TV customers amid tough competition.
BCE, Telus and Rogers Communications are all working to woo a larger pool of customers than usual this year because of a change in regulation. In 2013, Canada’s government barred cancellation fees for contracts longer than two years, meaning twice the usual amount of users are looking for new mobile phone plans.
As a result, BCE saw its churn rate jump 0.08 percentage points from a year ago to 1.23 per cent and retention spending grow to 13 per cent of its $1.5 billion in wireless services revenues, up from 10 per cent in 2014.
BCE said Bell Media`s advertising revenue was hit by the loss of broadcast rights for the National Hockey League playoffs, tougher competition in social media, and broad softness in the conventional TV market.
Bell’s new broadband offering, Gigabit Fibe, will be available in Ontario and Quebec starting Monday to 1.3 million homes. The company says it can deliver download speeds of as much as a gigabit, or 1,ooo megabits, per second. Pricing hasn’t yet been announced.
BCE plans to spend $1.14 billion through the end of 2017 to upgrade and build its fibre optic cable network in Canada’s largest city.