Telus Is Set to Compete and Grow

Article Excerpt

Telus faces competitive challenges from both rival phone companies, and from cable firms. There’s also competition from new entrants in the wireless field. However, we still think Telus’s strong brands and reputation put it in a strong position to compete and grow. TELUS CORP. $40.47 (Toronto symbol T.A; Shares outstanding: 335.6 million; Market cap: $13.6 billion; SI Rating: Above average) provides local and long distance telephone service in B.C., Alberta and parts of Quebec, and wireless service across Canada. In the three months ended June 30, 2008, Telus’s earnings per share excluding unusual items rose 13.7%, to $0.83 from $0.73 a year earlier. Revenue rose 7.7%, to $2.4 billion from $2.2 billion. Strong gains at its wireless and high-speed Internet operations offset lower local and long-distance revenues. Telus’s shares yield 4.5%. Recent auctions of new radio frequencies (or wireless spectrum) will let new cell phone firms enter the market. These include Quebecor, European and Egyptian-backed Globalive and Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless, a..