MONTREAL - BCE Inc. pulled its financial forecasts Thursday as a result of uncertainty caused by COVID-19, but the telecom and media giant stood by its dividend.

“Although we are withdrawing our previous financial guidance for the year due to the COVID-19 situation, we do not anticipate any changes to planned 2020 capital expenditures or to dividend payments for the foreseeable future,” said Chief Executive Officer Mirko Bibic in a release.

BCE said its first-quarter net profit fell compared with a year ago as the company was hit by derivative losses related to a hedging program, while the pandemic took a bite out of its revenue.

The Montreal-based company says its profit attributable to common shareholders totalled $680 million or 75 cents per share, compared with $740 million or 82 cents per share in last year's first quarter.

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.68 billion, down from $5.73 billion as the pandemic affected all of BCE's operating segments.

On an adjusted basis, BCE said it earned 80 cents per share compared to 77 cents per share a year ago.

Analysts on average had estimated BCE would earn an adjusted profit of 76 cents per share on nearly $5.69 billion in revenue, according to Bloomberg.

The company’s key wireless unit saw revenue decline two per cent in the quarter as retail closures caused by COVID-19 resulted in a sharp decline in new subscriber growth.

Meanwhile, the media division managed to post modest revenue growth as gains in the Crave streaming service helped offset a decline in advertising sales.

With files from The Canadian Press 

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