(Montreal) BCE’s net profit plunged nearly 40% in the most recent quarter, during which the telecommunications giant began laying off 1,300 of its employees.
The Montreal-based company’s second-quarter net profit was $397 million, or 37 cents per share, compared to $654 million, or 66 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.
Adjusted earnings were $722 million, or 79 cents per share, compared with $791 million, or 87 cents per share, in the prior second quarter.
Analysts on average had expected adjusted earnings of 80 cents per share for the quarter ended June 30, according to estimates collected by financial data firm Refinitiv.
Operating revenue reached 6.06 billion, compared to 5.86 billion a year earlier.
Bell attributed the increase in its costs to severance payments, a higher interest rate environment and the obligation it had to buy back at fair value the minority stake in one of its investments in shares in a joint venture.
“Bell’s second quarter results demonstrate that strong and consistent execution coupled with engaging services, sought after and valued by our customers, is a winning approach,” said the President and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, Mirko Bibic, in a press release.
“Despite the continued slowdown in advertising spend in North America, our leading digital-first content and media strategy continues to prove itself, with Bell Media’s digital content revenue growing by 20% over last year and now representing 33% of Bell Media revenue. »
The company added 111,282 net subscribers to its postpaid mobile services, up 33.8% from the same period last year. According to her, it was her best quarter in 18 years in this regard.
This increase was attributable to a 30.4% increase in gross subscriber activations, BCE said, in part due to factors such as growing immigration, the “continued rise” of 5G and the successful offer of service packages.
Its monthly churn for this category – a measure of subscribers who canceled their service – was 0.94%, compared to 0.75% in the prior second quarter, reflecting greater market activity and intensity. promotional offers compared to last year.
Average revenue per user for Bell wireless mobile phones was $59.16, down 1 cent from the second quarter a year earlier.
Company in this post: (TSX: BCE)
Note to readers: Corrected version. Analysts on average had expected adjusted earnings per share of 80 cents, not 77 cents, as mistakenly written in a previous release.