​BCE tops third quarter expectations

BCE Inc. topped profit expectations in the third quarter, as the telecom giant added more than 224,000 wireless customers in the quarter.

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Adjusted net earnings for the quarter were $801 million or 88 cents a share -- higher than the consensus estimate of 85 cents a share from analysts polled by Bloomberg. On a comparable basis, BCE had net adjusted earnings of 82 cents a share during the same period last year.
 
Revenue at the company rose a little more than three per cent to $6 billion in the quarter.
 
The company also reconfirmed its full-year financial forecast, with expectations for full-year revenue growth of one to five per cent.
 
In a release, BCE Chief Executive Officer Mirko Bibic said the company posted its strongest-ever quarter of overall growth across its wireless and wireline networks.
 
“We experienced over 400,000 net activations across our wireline and wireless networks, with our highest-ever number of total mobile phone net additions, and we also gained a significant share of Internet subscriber growth with over 95,000 new net fibre-to-the-home customers this past quarter, up 33% over last year and our best-ever result,” he said.
 
BNN Bloomberg is owned by BCE, through its Bell Media division.