The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, May 01, 2015

Article Excerpt

BCE INC., $53.88, Toronto symbol BCE, reported higher-than-expected quarterly results this week. In the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s overall earnings rose 12.6%, to $705 million from $626 million a year earlier. But per-share profits gained just 3.7%, to $0.84 from $0.81, on more shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items, such as costs to integrate BCE’s November 2014 purchase of the 56% of Bell Aliant it didn’t already own. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.79 a share. Revenue rose 2.8%, to $5.24 billion from $5.10 billion, also exceeding the consensus forecast of $5.23 billion. BCE lost 15,914 wireless subscribers, net of additions, in the latest quarter. But it signed up 35,373 new users under long-term contracts, up 3.7% from a year earlier and well ahead of the consensus forecast of 27,200. That’s important, as these subscribers tend to use smartphones, which generate higher monthly fees than regular cellphones. BCE ended the quarter with…