MONTREAL – BCE’s acquisition of CTV last year is paying off as the company saw fourth quarter profits jump by 52.8%.
BCE reported quarterly net earnings of $486 million, up from $318 million in the same period last year.
At its main Bell Canada subsidiary, operating revenues were up 12.6% this quarter to $4.58 billion, as revenues from Bell Media, Wireless, TV and residential Internet offset declines in local and access, long distance and data product revenues. For the full year 2011, Bell's operating revenues were $17.13 billion, an increase of 9.3% compared to 2010, while EBITDA increased 8.6% to $6.31 billion.
Bell Media's operating revenues were $578 million this quarter, which the company said reflected subscriber fee revenue from specialty TV channels, such as TSN and RDS, and digital online video and mobile TV services. Bell Media generated 2011 revenues of $1.54 billion since its creation on April 1, 2011.
The Bell Wireless client base reached 7,427,482 at the end of the quarter, an increase of 2.6% over last year. Postpaid net additions in the quarter totalled 131,986, down from 156,708 last year, which the company said reflected aggressive acquisition offers from competitors. Smart phone users now account for 48% of total postpaid subscribers, compared to 31% last year.
The Bell TV subscriber base reached 2,087,596 at the end of 2011, representing a 3.3% increase over 2010. Bell added new 27,726 Fibe TV customers, a 20.4% increase from last year. It ended the quarter with 2,112,752 high-speed Internet subscribers, 0.7% more than last year, after adding only 1,091 this quarter compared to 12,099 in Q4 2010.
Total NAS at the end of the quarter was 6,101,656, representing a 5.8% decline year over year, which Bell said was attributable to competition and a reduction in access lines and digital circuits, as customers continue to adopt wireless and IP-based technologies.
"Bell's industry-leading investments in Canada's best broadband networks, products and content are delivering strong revenue and EBITDA increases, led by growth at Bell Wireless and Bell Media and fast-accelerating Bell Fibe TV additions as we covered Montréal and Toronto with our new broadband TV service in Q4," said president and CEO George Cope, in a statement.
BCE’s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5425 per common share, payable on April 15, 2012 to shareholders of record. Looking ahead, Bell targeted modest revenue growth of 3% to 5% in 2012.
