In its first fiscal quarter of 2018, Telus posted a consolidated operating revenue of 3.4 billion, an increase by six percent over the same period a year ago.
The national carrier attributes its earnings to growth in its wireline and wireless businesses.
Meanwhile, overall net income of $412 million for the quarter decreased by $10 million over the same period a year ago. Telus cites a number of factors, including higher income taxes from a B.C. corporate income tax increase.
In wireless, Telus’ top-earning division, the carrier made $1.5 billion in revenue, an increase of four percent over last year.
Telus says this reflects continued postpaid subscriber growth, including subscribers acquired from Bell-acquired MTS, and a higher proportion of customers selecting plans with larger data buckets or periodically topping up their data buckets.
The company added 48,000 net postpaid wireless subscribers — an increase of 4,000 over the same period a year ago. The number substantially beats out most analyst predictions, which were between 35,000 and 39,000.
Telus says this number reflects the success of its promotions and marketing efforts focused on higher-value postpaid plans.
It’s important to note, though, that the additions come in far below Rogers’ 95,000 net postpaid additions in Q1 2018, and under Bell’s approximately 68,000 Q1 2018 net postpaid additions.
As it stands now, the total wireless subscriber base remains around 8.9 million, the same as was reported last quarter.
Average billing per user per month grew by 1.5 percent to $66.51 this quarter compared to the same time last year, a number in-line with analyst predictions.
Wireless postpaid churn (the amount of customers who cut ties with Telus during the quarter) remains low at 0.95 percent, though that’s higher than it was a year ago, when the carrier posted 0.93 percent. Telus says this is because of incremental deactivations from competitive intensity.
The carrier also blames increased competition for prepaid net losses of 43,000, however, it’s improved by 10,000 over the same period a year ago.
On the wireline side, Telus gained 22,000 internet subscriptions and 6,000 Telus TV subscriptions. Total internet subscriptions now stand at 1.8 million in total, while TV subscriptions stand at 1.1 million.
Telus says its wireline growth is due to successfully crossing a milestone it had set of 50 percent fibre optic coverage.
“Telus’ first quarter results reflect strong operational and financial performance, including healthy revenue and EBITDA expansion across both our wireless and wireline product portfolios in concert with robust customer growth,” said Darren Entwistle, president and CEO, in a press statement.
“Our continued strong performance is owing in no small spart to the Telus team’s unparalleled dedication to providing consistently exceptional customer experiences.”
Correction: This article previously stated Telus added 34,000 net new wireless postpaid subscribers for Q4 2017. The actual amount was 121,000. We regret the mistake.
Source: Telus
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