The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, February 7, 2014

Article Excerpt

BCE INC., $46.58, Toronto symbol BCE, reported higher-than-expected earnings and raised its dividend this week. In the three months ended December 31, 2013, the company’s earnings rose 16.4%, to $540 million, or $0.70 a share. These figures exclude unusual items, such as costs to integrate recently acquired broadcaster Astral Media. On that basis, BCE’s earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.69 a share. A year earlier, it earned $464 million, or $0.60 a share. Revenue rose 4.3%, to $5.4 billion from $5.2 billion. In addition to Astral’s contribution, the company is attracting more wireless, high-speed Internet and digital TV customers. That’s helping offset lower revenue from traditional phones. BCE added 93,700 new wireless subscribers, net of cancellations, in the quarter (it now has 7.8 million users across Canada). That’s down 10.8% from a year earlier, but 73% of its subscribers under long-term contracts now use smartphones, up from 62%. That’s good news, because smartphones generate higher fees for BCE than regular cellphones. Average…