MONTREAL – Bell Canada reported revenues of $4.32 Billion in the third quarter, up 0.4% from the same quarter last year, driven by higher average revenues per user (ARPU) in residential growth services (wireless, video and high-speed Internet), as well as an expanding subscriber base in those services, improved revenue performance from the Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund (Bell Aliant) and growth in revenues from wireless and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) solutions in the Business segment.
Bell Canada reported operating income of $827 million in the quarter, which is $78 million lower than the same quarter last year, mainly as a result of charges associated to previously announced workforce reductions and the related closure of real estate facilities and employee relocations as well as the formation of Bell Aliant. These same factors resulted in operating income of $810 million for BCE in the third quarter, compared to $909 million for the same period last year.
Bell Canada EBITDA of $1,835 million is up 1.8% in the quarter, driven by higher ARPU in residential growth services, subscriber acquisitions and the achievement of efficiencies, such as lower total labour costs following workforce reductions, increased cost savings from supply chain and process-related efficiency initiatives and lower costs for wireless and video customer acquisitions. This contributed to BCE EBITDA of $1,840 million, an increase of $23 million over the same period last year. This represents the third quarter of sequential EBITDA growth.
Bell Canada EBITDA margin improved in the quarter to 42.3% from 41.7% in the third quarter of 2005, too. "This is an important performance achievement for Bell in light of the continued transformation of its revenue mix in an open and competitive market," said the press release.
"Progress was made on each of the fundamental drivers of our business strategy in the quarter," said CEO Michael Sabia. "We are focused on customer service performance and continue to strengthen installation and repair services and provide specialized training to our customer-facing employees. Our strategy is to combine customer service improvements with leading-edge products running on the most advanced networks in the market to build a company that delivers a differentiated customer experience."
