Telus profit jumps 13.5% on subscriber growth, data use

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Strong subscriber growth and customer use of more wireless data services helped boost first-quarter profit and revenue at Telus Corp.

Vancouver-based Telus said on Thursday that it posted a net profit of $362-million or 55 cents per share, up 13.5 per cent from $319-million or 49 cents per share in the year-earlier period.

Revenue rose almost 5 per cent to $2.76-billion from $2.63-billion.

The revenue increase was due to more than 6-per-cent growth in wireless revenue and almost 3-per-cent growth in wireline revenue, the company said.

Wireline includes Optik TV and high-speed Internet services.

The company said it added 59,000 postpaid wireless customers in the first quarter, 34,000 TV subscribers and 16,000 high-speed Internet customers. That was partially offset by losses of prepaid wireless customers and wired phone lines.

"Telus realized strong first quarter results driven by our company's revenue and EBITDA growth in both the wireline and wireless segments of our business," Telus president and chief executive officer Darren Entwistle said in a statement.

The company also said it is increasing the quarterly dividend 11.5 per cent to 34 cents per share, and extending its dividend growth program for an additional three years to 2016.

And it plans to seek regulatory approval to make buy and cancel up to 15 million Telus shares valued at up to $500-million in 2013, as well as extend the share purchase program for up to $500-million in each of the next three years for a total of up to $2-billion.