Big investments set BCE up for more growth

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $58 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 900.4 million; Market cap: $52.2 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 4.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest telephone provider, with 6.5 million customers in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces. It also has 3.7 million high-speed Internet users and 2.8 million TV subscribers. In all, these operations supplied 54% of BCE’s revenue in the first half of 2017. BCE is also Canada’s second-largest wireless carrier, behind Rogers. Its 8.9 million users provided 34% of its revenue. The remaining 12% of revenue came from the company’s Bell Media division; it owns CTV Television, specialty channels (including TSN, Discovery, Comedy and Space), pay-TV services (including the Movie Network and HBO Canada) and over 100 radio stations. Profiting from wireless and Internet demand Thanks to strong demand for wireless and Internet services, BCE’s revenue rose 8.7%, from $20.0 billion in 2012 to $21.7 billion in 2016…