Smartphones fuel BCE

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $57.77 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 865.4 million; Market cap: $50.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.bce.ca) continues to benefit from strong demand for its wireless, high-speed Internet and Fibe TV services. That’s offsetting weaker revenue from traditional telephone services. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, the company’s revenue rose 1.4%, to $5.60 billion from $5.53 billion. Per-share profits were unchanged at $0.72. During the quarter, the company added 91,308 wireless subscribers under long-term contracts. That’s down from 118,120 a year earlier, mainly due to strong competition over the winter holiday. However, smartphone users now account for 78% of these customers, up from 76% a year earlier. That’s good news, as smartphones generate higher monthly fees than regular cellphones. Meanwhile, the company continues to see strong demand for its TV offerings: it now has 1.2 million subscribers to its Fibe TV service, up 26.7% from a year ago. BCE expects its earnings to…