Satellite-TV deal helps both companies

Article Excerpt

TELUS INC. (Toronto symbols T $30 and T.A $29; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 318 million; Market cap: $9.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; SI Rating: Above Average) hopes to improve its sales by bundling its phone and Internet services with satellite TV. Under a new deal with BCE INC. $24 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 780.6 million; Market cap: $18.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; SI Rating: Above Average), Telus will sell BCE’s satellite-TV service in Alberta and British Columbia under the Telus brand. BCE and Telus will share the proceeds from these sales. The deal also lets BCE keep selling satellite service in the same region under the “Bell TV” name. Telus is a buy. The cheaper, non-voting “A” shares are the better choice. BCE is also a buy. buy…