Bell Canada Profits Drop on Slightly Higher Revenues

Published on: 1st Nov 2012

­Bell Canada has announced that its third-quarter revenue increased by 1.8% to C$4.4 billion as Bell Wireless and Bell Media revenue growth of 7.1% and 25.5%, respectively, was moderated by a 4% decrease at Bell Wireline.

Net profits however fell to C$569 million, compared to C$642 million a year ago.

Bell Wireless operating revenues increased 7.1% to C$1.4 billion. Service revenue was up 6.4% to $1.31 billion due to the larger postpaid subscriber base and growth in wireless data usage. Product revenue increased 10.8% in the quarter to C$113 million as a result of a higher percentage of smartphones in the sales mix.

The Bell Wireless client base reached 7.85 million at the end of Q3 2012, a 2.8% increase over last year.

Postpaid gross activations increased slightly to 372,574 this quarter compared to 372,346 in Q3 2011. Activations in western Canada increased due to more points of distribution and increased advertising, even as some customers delayed purchases in anticipation of the Apple iPhone 5 launch.

Smartphone subscribers now represent 60% of the total postpaid base, compared to 43% last year.

Prepaid gross activations decreased 23.0% to 118,122 due primarily to aggressive acquisition offers from competitors targeted at lower-ARPU subscribers and Bell's continued focus on acquiring postpaid customers.

 

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