Our Two Top Telephone Company Buys

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $28 (Toronto symbol BCE; SI Rating: Above-Average) provides local and long distance telephone service to customers throughout Ontario and Quebec. Other services offered by the company include wireless communications, direct-to-home satellite television, Internet access and e-commerce. BCE also owns 68.5% of Bell Globemedia, the owner of CTV, The Globe and Mail and several specialty channels. BCE made $0.50 a share from ongoing operations in the three months ended September 30, 2005, down 3.8% from $0.52 a year earlier. Revenues rose 3.1%, to $4.95 billion from $4.8 billion. BCE still suffers from a “holding company” discount, and may spin off or sell more of its divisions to unlock its hidden value. The company recently agreed to sell most of its shares in computer consulting firm CGI Group back to CGI for $859.2 million. That still leaves BCE with $242 million worth of CGI shares, which it plans to sell in 2006. BCE has also agreed to sell most of its controlling…