TORONTO -- BCE Inc. said Thursday that its wireless business performed well in the first quarter, with its revenue up 4.5 per cent, helped by improved subscriber retention and higher average revenue per user.

BCE chief executive George Cope acknowledged in a conference call with analysts that the first quarter is usually a seasonally slow sales period for wireless, but Bell has helped by a government contract that began to roll out last year.

Bell said it added 38,282 total net new postpaid and prepaid wireless customers for the three months ended March 31, down from 44,377 in last year's first quarter.

The addition of 50,204 net new postpaid subscribers was down from 68,487 a year earlier but better than analyst estimates and more than twice the 23,000 net postpaid additions announced by rival Rogers Communications Inc.

Cope added that two other important metrics used in the wireless industry -- churn and average revenue per user -- moved in the right direction during the quarter.

"But let's see how the entire year unfolds going forward," Cope said, ahead of BCE's annual shareholder meeting in Toronto.

Earlier, BCE reported its first-quarter profit was up 12 per cent from a year earlier as overall revenue improved by 2.6 per cent to $5.73 billion from $5.59 billion, with the wireless division leading the growth.

Its Bell wireline business, which includes residential internet and TV service, increased its revenue by 1.8 per cent to $3.06 billion.

Meanwhile its Bell Media business, which includes CTV, radio stations and specialty TV channels, saw operating revenue slipped 0.5 per cent to $745 million.

BCE's net profit amounted $740 million attributable to common shareholders or 82 cents per share. That was up from $661 million or 73 cents per share in the first quarter of 2018.

The Montreal-based company's adjusted earnings per share were 77 cents, down from 80 cents per share a year earlier and one cent below the average analyst estimate.

Analysts had estimated 78 cents per share of adjusted earnings and $5.71 billion of total operating revenue, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

BNN Bloomberg is a division of Bell Media, which is owned by BCE.