MONTREAL – Bell Canada saw its operating revenue for its first quarter fall 0.5% to $3.6 billion, but operating income rose 36.9% to reach $649 million.
EBITDA grew by 0.3% to $1.426 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2009.
Growth in wireless, video, and data revenues were offset by declines in local and access, long distance, and equipment and other revenues. Lower restructuring costs helped sustain the jump in operating income, the press release detailed.
The Bell Wireless segment had 35,000 postpaid net activations this quarter, 25% more than last year, while total net activations were 30,000, reflecting a drop of 5,000 prepaid clients compared to a net gain of 6,000 prepaid clients in Q1 2008.
Total gross activations were 366,000 this quarter, a year-over-year increase of 4.3%, bringing the Bell Wireless client base to 6.527 million.
The Bell Wireline division saw its sixth consecutive quarter of improvement in residential local line losses, which declined by 78,000 this quarter, or 26.4% fewer than the decline of 106,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Its combined residential and business landline total is 7.332 million.
High-speed Internet customer connections increased by 6,000 this quarter, compared to a 10,000 increase last year, with residential net additions doubling year-over-year. At the end of the quarter, Bell had 2.060 million high-speed Internet customer connections, an increase of 2.3% from the same period last year.
Video subscribers increased by 12,000 this quarter to total 1.864 million. The company said that video subscribers’ ARPU increased $4.19 to $68.84, a result of customer upgrades to higher-priced programming packages, higher rental fees and pricing initiatives.
"Bell delivered operating performance and financial results in line with our guidance, despite economic pressures in the marketplace," president and CEO George Cope said in an announcement. "The softer economy has led to more cautious consumer spending and reduced business investment. However, increased video, residential Internet and wireless postpaid activations and improved total revenue per household in the quarter underscored both the resiliency of much of Bell’s business and the progress we’re making in executing on our strategy."
Bell also announced plans to buy the 50% stake in Virgin Mobile Canada that it does not already own for $142 million. While Virgin Mobile Canada will continue to operate independently with distinct branding and its own distribution channels, Virgin phones and plans will now be sold through some of the same stores as Bell products, including recently acquired retail chain The Source.
The telco giant also announced that the Palm Pre, the first phone based on the new Palm webOS mobile platform, will debut in Canada exclusively on Bell Mobility’s 3G high-speed mobile network in the second half of 2009. Pricing information was not disclosed.
Lastly, Bell said that it has become the first telecommunications company in Canada to obtain certification to ISO 14001, the international standard that specifies a process for controlling and improving an organization’s environmental performance.
Awarded by BSI Management System for Bell’s environmental management system, the ISO 14001 certification covers all of Bell’s business lines, including enterprise and other business services, wireless, digital television, Internet and home phone products and services, and all related administrative functions.
