VANCOUVER – Telus is cutting some 1,500 jobs in an effort to curb costs, amidst increases in third quarter revenues and profits.
The company said Thursday that it is increasing “efficiency initiatives” by an additional $125 million next quarter, which will include eliminating approximately 1,500 full-time positions, many of which are voluntary departures and early retirements.
“These are very difficult decisions to make but a necessary element of aligning our organization with the growth, customer service and capital allocation activities we are implementing", president and CEO Darren Entwistle said in a statement.
For the third quarter ended September 30, 2015, Telus’ consolidated operating revenue grew 4.2% to $3.2 billion year-over-year as a result of higher data revenue in both wireless and wireline operations. Wireless data revenue increased 12% from a year ago, leading to overall network revenue growth of 4.0%, while wireline data revenue grew 11% to generate 3.3% growth in external wireline revenue.
Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), increased 0.2% over the same period a year ago and, when excluding restructuring and other like costs from both periods, EBITDA was higher by 2.2% to $1.1 billion. Net income improved 2.8% to $365 million, while adjusted net income increased 2.8% to $398 million.
"Our company continued to deliver solid financial and operational results in both our wireline and wireless businesses", continued Entwistle, who credited the company’s customer-first focus for a ninth consecutive quarter of wireless monthly postpaid churn below one percent. “Moreover, we distinguished ourselves as one of the only telecom companies globally to report wireline subscriber, revenue and EBITDA growth."
Total customer connections grew 2.2% to 14.0 million from 13.7 million in Q3 2014. Telus defines customer connections as the sum of active wireless subscribers, network access lines (NALs), high-speed Internet access subscribers and Telus TV subscribers (Optik TV and Telus Satellite TV subscribers), measured at the end of the respective periods based on information in billing and other systems.
Telus said it attracted 119,000 new net wireless postpaid, high-speed Internet and TV customers this quarter, which included 69,000 wireless postpaid customers, 26,000 Telus TV customers and 24,000 high-speed Internet subscribers. These gains were partially offset by the ongoing loss of traditional telephone network access lines. The company’s total wireless subscriber base is up 2.8% from a year ago to 8.4 million, high-speed Internet connections are up 6.3% to 1.5 million, and Telus TV subscribers grew 10% to 980,000.
“As we finish the year and look towards 2016, we will continue to focus on the company's long-term and disciplined strategy of investing in our wireless and wireline data growth engines, and earning the privilege of building customer loyalty through constantly improving client service excellence”, added Entwistle. “The $4.5 billion to be spent in capital expenditures and spectrum in 2015 are the most significant annual investments in our company's history.”
