Telus continues to see strong adoption of its TV and broadband services, adding 23,000 Telus TV subscribers and 15,000 high-speed Internet customers during the second quarter.
Total Telus TV subscribers rose 16 percent to 865,000, while broadband Internet connections were up 5.6 percent to 1.4 million. However, total TV additions were down from the same period a year ago due to what Telus said was slower market growth.
The telco's broadband Internet net additions of 15,000 were up 2,000 year-over-year. The high-speed subscriber base of 1.43 million is up 76,000 or 5.6 percent from a year ago.
Growth of TV and broadband drove up second-quarter 2014 wireline results 2.4 percent, or $28 million, year-over-year to $1.23 billion.
The service provider said that this "growth was generated by increased data revenue, partially offset by continued declines in legacy voice local and long-distance revenues."
Telus also narrowed its total network access lines (NALs) losses to 15,000, down from 38,000 a year ago, a 61 percent year-over-year improvement. Residential NAL losses of 19,000 improved by 13,000 or 41 percent over the prior year period, while business NALs increased by 4,000 compared to a loss of 6,000 a year ago. Total NALs of 3.2 million were lower by 109,000 year-over-year, reflecting an improvement of 54,000 in NAL losses compared to the same period a year ago.
Telus said the improvement in NAL losses "reflects the success of Telus' customers first initiatives and bundling strategy, offset by ongoing wireless and Internet substitution and competition."
From an overall financial perspective, Telus' operating revenue grew 4.4 percent year-over-year to $2.69 billion, while earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 7.5 percent to $1 billion. Likewise, net income increased by 33 per cent to $348 million, while basic earnings per share (EPS) rose by 41 percent to 62 cents.
For more:
- see the earnings release
Special report: Wireline telecom earnings in the second quarter of 2014
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