Upgrades paying off

Article Excerpt

TELUS CORP. (Toronto symbols T $40 and T.A $38; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 333.6 million; Market cap: $13.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 5.0%; SI Rating: Above Average) recently upgraded its wireless networks to handle a wider variety of cellphones, including Apple’s hugely popular iPhone smartphone. These investments are starting to pay off: In the three months ended March 31, 2010, Telus’s earnings rose 2.5%, to $0.83 a share from $0.81 a year earlier. However, revenue in the quarter was unchanged at $2.4 billion. That’s because lower local and long-distance revenue offset higher sales of wireless and Internet services. Telus also raised its quarterly dividend by 5.3%, to $0.50 a share from $0.475. The new annual rate of $2.00 yields 5.0% (5.3% for the non-voting ‘A’ shares). The company is facing rising competition, including three new wireless providers (Wind Mobile, Mobilicity and Public Mobile). As well, cable company Shaw Communications Inc. plans to launch a wireless service in western…