Bell Canada signage is pictured in Ottawa on Wednesday Sept. 7, 2022.BCE Inc. says its net earnings tumbled almost 40 per cent in its most recent quarter as it began laying off 1,300 workers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
MONTREAL – BCE Inc. says its net earnings tumbled almost 40 per cent in its most recent quarter as it began laying off 1,300 workers.
The Montreal-based telecommunications company’s net earnings for the second quarter amounted to $397 million or 37 cents per common share compared with $654 million or 66 cents per common share a year ago.
Adjusted net earnings totalled $722 million, or 79 cents per share, compared with $791 million, or 87 cents per share, a year prior.
Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 80 cents per share for the period ended June 30, according to estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
Operating revenue ticked up to $6.06 billion from $5.86 billion a year earlier.
Bell attributed its increased costs to severance expenses, a higher interest rate environment and an obligation it had to repurchase at fair value the minority interest in one of its joint venture equity investments.
“Bell’s Q2 results demonstrate that our consistent strong execution and delivering the compelling services that our customers want and value is a winning approach,” said Bell Canada president and CEO Mirko Bibic in a press release.
“Despite the continuing advertising recession across North America, our leading content and digital-first media strategy continues to pay off with Bell Media digital revenue up 20 per cent over last year, and now comprising 33 per cent of total Bell Media revenue.”
The company added 111,282 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, up 33.8 per cent from the same period last year and representing what Bell said was its best second quarter result for the metric in 18 years.
It said the increase was driven by 30.4 per cent higher gross subscriber activations, partly due to factors such as immigration growth, continued 5G and multiproduct bundling sales and effective promotions.
Its monthly churn rate for the category – a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service – was 0.94 per cent, up from 0.75 per cent during its previous second quarter, reflecting more market activity and promotional offer intensity compared with last year.
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $59.16, down a cent from the second quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)
