Income, earnings, slide at MTS; Barker retires

WINNIPEG – While revenue was strong, Manitoba Telecom Services posted big drops in earnings and income, however, the numbers were expected.The Manitoba division is performing well and the integration of Allstream has brought in revenue, but competitive challenges in that national division has placed pressure on the MTS bottom line. It was new CEO Pierre Blouin’s first investors’ conference call helming the Winnipeg-based company. "We've got a tremendous regional franchise, national capabilities representing significant potential, and an aggressive program underway… to lower our costs, improve our cash flow and position our company for long-term success,” said Blouin in a release....