The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, February 11, 2011

Article Excerpt

BCE INC., $35.90, Toronto symbol BCE, continues to profit from recent upgrades to its wireless and high-speed Internet networks. As a result, BCE’s earnings rose 11.9% in 2010, to $2.2 billion from $1.9 billion in 2009. The company spent $500 million on share buybacks in 2010. Because of fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 13.6%, to $2.84 from $2.50. These figures exclude costs related to a restructuring plan, which included cutting jobs, relocating employees and selling excess real estate. The latest earnings also beat the consensus estimate of $2.83 a share. Revenue rose 1.9% in 2010, to $18.1 billion from $17.7 billion. Wireline revenue (which accounts for 57% of BCE’s total revenue) rose just 0.3%. New high-speed Internet and satellite-TV subscribers offset lower local and long-distance telephone revenue. At the end of 2010, the company had 2.1 million high-speed Internet subscribers (up 2.0% from a year earlier) and 2.0 million TV subscribers (up 3.7%). Wireless revenue (27% of overall revenue) rose…