More smartphone profits for Telus

Article Excerpt

TELUS CORP. (Toronto symbols T $54 and T.A $51; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 324.5 million; Market cap: $17.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) continues to benefit from rising demand for smartphones, like the iPhone and devices that run Google’s Android operating system. In the three months ended September 30, 2011, Telus added 114,000 new wireless subscribers, net of deactivations. That’s down 25.5% from 153,000 a year earlier. However, 70% of these new long-term customers use smartphones. That pushed up demand for data services, such as web browsing. As a result, Telus’s revenue rose 6.5% in the quarter, to $2.6 billion from $2.5 billion a year earlier. Earnings rose 29.9%, to $326 million from $251 million. Earnings per share rose 28.2%, to $1.00 from $0.78, on more shares outstanding. Telus also raised its quarterly dividend by 5.5%, to $0.58 a share from $0.55. The new annual rate of $2.32 yields 4.3% (4.5% for the…