Updating BCE Inc. and Telus

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $52.14 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares o/s: 898.0 million; Market cap: $46.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Divd. yield: 5.8%; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest traditional telephone service provider: it has 3.1 residential million customers in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces. The company also has 3.9 million high-speed Internet users and 2.8 million TV subscribers. In addition, BCE sells wireless services to 9.3 million users across Canada and owns TV and radio stations. In the quarter ended June 30, 2018, overall revenue climbed 1.7%, to $5.79 billion from $5.69 billion a year earlier. Earnings fell 2.3%, to $777 million from $795 million a year earlier. Due to more shares outstanding, per-share profits fell 3.4%, to $0.86 from $0.89. The lower earnings are mainly due to the company’s increased spending on its networks as well as higher content and programming costs for its media operations. The heavy investments in wireless and Internet networks continue to pay off. BCE signed 122,092 wireless customers to long-term…