(Toronto) Telus announced Friday an increase in its quarterly dividend, while the telecommunications giant announced a profit of 551 million for its third quarter, up from that of 358 million for the same period last year.
The Vancouver-based company welcomed its highest number of new customers in more than a decade. Wireless services saw a net addition of 150,000 subscribers, up 11% from the same quarter last year, while the number of wireline customers also increased, with 73,000 net additions.
“We really focused on bundling our products with our other high value-added services. And we have seen a significant amount of immigration to Canada. So a lot of (our additions) went down those paths,” Telus chief financial officer Doug French explained in an interview.
He didn’t say whether the Rogers Communications outage in July helped fuel some of that customer growth.
Meanwhile, Telus recorded a net addition of 36,000 internet customers, a decrease of 10,000 from the gain in the same period last year.
The company attributed the decline to “slightly higher churn” and noted that inflationary pressures were causing consumers to rethink some purchasing decisions. The company saw 18,000 additions to its TV services, an increase of 8,000 from the previous year.
Telus Health Services revenue increased $95 million, or 73%, in the third quarter, driven by the acquisition of LifeWorks — formerly known as Morneau Shepell — on January 1er September, and the continued adoption of virtual care.
“The integration (of LifeWorks) is going very well. We closed the deal approximately two months ahead of schedule by obtaining early regulatory approval,” explained Mr. French.
With recessionary risks looming and inflationary pressures lingering, French said the company was confident in its diversified portfolio.
“We have built relevant and important assets not only for Canadians, but for many of our customers around the world. And when you look at health care, agriculture, connectivity, and you look at the fact that we’re deploying all of our spectrum in rural Canada where connectivity is needed the most, those services are needed all the time, including period of recession,” he argued.
However, the company’s digital customer experience solutions group, Telus International, warned of revenue headwinds in the fourth quarter due to “weaker-than-expected customer demand and sales cycles.” longer” reflecting the impact of prolonged macroeconomic uncertainties.
Profits and revenues on the rise
Telus’ earnings per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 were 37 cents, down from 25 cents a year earlier.
Operating and other income totaled $4.67 billion, revenue that compared to $4.25 billion in the third quarter of 2021.
On an adjusted basis, Telus earned 34 cents per share in the most recent quarter, compared with 29 cents per share a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 32 cents per share, according to forecasts compiled by financial data firm Refinitiv.
Telus said it would now pay a dividend of 35.11 cents per share, up from 32.74 cents per share that had prevailed until then.
Desjardins analyst Jérôme Dubreuil said in a note to clients that recent acquisitions of LifeWorks and US technology company WillowTree did not appear to be stopping Telus from returning capital to shareholders. He considers the increase in the company’s dividend to be a “positive” element.
“Our excellent results are a testament to the power of our globally recognized broadband networks and our customer-centric culture, which helped us bring in a total of 347,000 new customers, a record number for a quarter. and up more than 8% year over year,” Telus CEO Darren Entwistle said in a statement.
