BCE INC. $48.28 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 777.3 million; Market cap: $37.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.1%; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest provider of telephone, Internet and wireless services. It also offers satellite and Internet TV across the country.
In the three months ended March 31, 2014, BCE’s earnings per share rose 5.2%, to $0.81 from $0.77 a year earlier. Revenue increased 4.4%, to $4.54 billion from $4.35 billion.
Revenue from wireless services (32% of total revenue) rose 4.6%. The company’s network upgrades continue to attract new wireless subscribers, and it’s benefiting from rising use of smartphones, which generate higher monthly fees than regular cellphones.
The wireline (land line) division, which accounts for 54% total revenue, saw its sales fall 1.8%. But even though many customers are cancelling land lines and switching to wireless devices, strong growth from Bell’s Fibe high-speed Internet TV service is increasingly slowing land line losses.
The company’s recent $3.2-billion purchase of Astral Media, with its TV and radio stations and specialty channels, has further diversified BCE’s operations and added to its profits.
BCE is still a safety-conscious buy.
