Internet & Wireless Fuel Telus’s Growth

Article Excerpt

TELUS CORP. (Toronto symbols T $47 and T.A $45; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 337.4 million; Market cap: $14.8 billion; SI Rating: Above average) earned $291.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2008, up 49.4% from $194.8 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose 57.9%, to $0.90 from $0.57, due to fewer shares outstanding. If you disregard a one-time charge in the year-earlier quarter, earnings per share were unchanged. Revenues increased 6.8%, to $2.35 billion from $2.2 billion, thanks to a 19% rise in revenue from Telus’s high-speed Internet services. Wireless revenue rose 10% due of the growing use of smartphones. These devices let users access email and web pages. Strong demand for these services is helping Telus offset weaker growth at its traditional telephone business. Telus is a buy. The cheaper, non-voting ‘A’ shares are the better choice. …