VANCOUVER – Telus Corporation president and CEO Darren Entwistle has put to rest rumours the company is still considering throwing its hat in the ring to buy BCE.
“After a thorough assessment of the opportunity and based on multiple factors, we are confirming today that Telus does not intend to submit a competing offer to acquire BCE. We believe that TELUS on a stand-alone basis with its strong growth oriented asset mix and investment grade financial strength will continue to create significant future value for investors,” Entwistle said in a news release announcing company losses in the most recent quarter.
Entwistle announced a month ago that the company had put aside its potential bid, but speculation returned in recent weeks that it was going to try again. But that, too, has died.
Telus has other things on its mind, like its second quarter 2007 results showing its EBITDA fell by $12.5 million compared with the same time last year. Among other things, it was hit by the bankruptcy of the parent company of its Amp’d Mobile service, which Telus killed this week.
“I am less than satisfied with these quarterly results,” Entwistle said. “While wireless revenue and subscriber growth of 11% and wireline data revenue growth of 8% remained robust, earnings did not meet expectations. This was largely caused by excess costs associated with the implementation of the new wireline billing and client care system as well as from the introduction of wireless number portability and the commercial failure of the launch of AMP’d Mobile. We are dedicated to much better performance in coming quarters, as evidenced by the reiteration of our public guidance for 2007.”
There were some bright spots in its Q2 results, the company says, noting its $200 million Department of National Defence IP networking contract as well as 4% revenue growth from Q2 of 2006 to $2.23 billion due to continued wireless and data growth.
Earnings per share, including tax adjustments, decreased 27 cents compared with the same period last year.
