Telus rings up 49 percent 1st-quarter profit rise

The January-March performance "was generated by 10 percent growth in wireless revenue and 19 percent growth in wireline data revenue, which was aided by two strategic acquisitions in January," Telus said.

The Vancouver, Canada-headquartered telecommunications provider's stock jumped 3 percent after the news.

The quarterly earnings, worth 90 Canadian cents (88 cents) per share, compared with a year-ago profit of 194.8 million Canadian dollars, or 58 Canadian cents per share, which was depressed by a charge of 173.5 million Canadian dollars ($169.7 million) for introducing a cash settlement feature on share options. Year-ago revenue was 2.2 billion Canadian dollars.

The latest quarter's bottom line benefited from a 16 percent decline in capital spending to 319.7 million Canadian dollars ($312.8 million), and from a favorable tax adjustment of 17 million Canadian dollars ($16.6 million.)

"First-quarter results were driven by strong data growth in both the wireless and wireline business segments," stated Telus CEO Darren Entwistle.

"This growth and our cash flow enable Telus to continue returning value to shareholders whilst investing in the long-term success of our company."

Chief Financial Officer Robert McFarlane noted that Telus navigated through turbulent capital markets in April to issue 500 million Canadian dollars ($489.2 million) in 5.95 percent seven-year notes, which "reflects our strong investment-grade credit ratings and further increased the considerable strength of the Telus balance sheet in advance of the upcoming AWS (advanced wireless services) wireless spectrum auction."

Telus recorded 88,400 net wireless subscriber additions, down 2.3 percent from a year earlier. Cost of acquisition per gross addition decreased 27 percent to 319 Canadian dollars ($312.09), while monthly churn rose to 1.53 percent from 1.35 percent.