VANCOUVER – Telus reported first quarter net customer additions of 145,000 for the period ending March 31, 2021, up 39,000 over the first three months of 2020.
The company’s release added them up this way, saying the number includes “31,000 mobile phones, 63,000 connected devices, in addition to 33,000 internet, 11,000 TV and 17,000 security customer connections.” It was offset by residential voice line losses of 10,000.
The company’s rapidly growing health division saw revenue rise 10%, “driven by accelerated demand for virtual care, which has seen Canadian members nearly triple over the past 12 months to 2 million,” reads the release.
Consolidated operating revenues and other income increased by 8.9% over the same period a year ago to $4 billion and earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 3.7% to $1.5 billion while Adjusted EBITDA was higher by 1.9%, says the company release.
“This growth reflects: i) higher fixed data service margins resulting from subscriber base growth and expanded services; ii) growth in our mobile subscriber base and mobile equipment margins; iii) growth from business acquisitions (net of associated support costs); iv) an increased contribution from our Digitally-led customer experiences – Telus International (DLCX) segment from business acquisitions and expanded services; and v) enhanced cost efficiency programs,” reads the release.
“With our strategic decision to pull forward capital expenditures to accelerate our broadband build program, focused on enhancing our fibre and 5G network coverage over the next 18 months, today we are increasing our capital expenditure guidance for 2021 by $750 million to approximately $3.5 billion,” said company chief financial officer Doug French, in the press release. “As a result of this pull forward of capital investments, we now expect free cash flow to be approximately $750 million in 2021, while our growth targets for consolidated revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the full year remain unchanged. Additionally, upon completion of our accelerated broadband build in 2022, we anticipate capital expenditures to decline to $2.5 billion or less, beginning in 2023.”
At the end of the quarter, the company’s PureFibre network passed over 2.5 million premises, reflecting an increase of approximately 240,000 fibre premises over the last twelve months, adds the release. By March 31, 2021, its 5G network covered more than 10.6 million Canadians.
A separate release yesterday said the company will expand its 5G network to an additional 529 new urban and rural communities by the end of 2021 and bring its PureFibre Internet network to a total of 3.5 million Canadian premises by the end of this year.
For the full Q1 release, please click here.
