BCE Inc. BCE-T said it expects to increase its revenue by up to 5 per cent this year, but noted that economic uncertainty stemming from the Omicron wave is slowing the pace of recovery in parts of its business.
Mirko Bibic, the telecom’s president and chief executive officer, called 2021 a “reset year” and said the company is transitioning to prepandemic levels of financial performance.
“Although COVID turbulence is still expected to ebb and flow in the near term because of Omicron, we’re optimistic about our business outlook,” Mr. Bibic said Thursday during a conference call to discuss the company’s fourth-quarter results.
The Montreal-based telecom reported revenue of $6.21-billion for the three-month period ended Dec. 31, up 1.8 per cent from the same period a year earlier. However, its profit slipped to $658-million, down 29 per cent from $932-million a year ago. The earnings amounted to 69 cents a share, down from 98 cents.
The company attributed the decrease to the fact that the year-ago figure includes a one-time gain on the sale of its data centres, as well as to higher depreciation and amortization expenses.
After adjusting for items such as severance, acquisitions and other costs, the earnings amounted to 76 cents a share, down 6 per cent from 81 cents a year ago.
Analysts had been expecting $6.23-billion of revenue and 73 cents a share of adjusted profits, according to S&P Capital IQ.
BCE, which owns Bell Canada, had a net gain of 109,527 postpaid mobile phone subscribers during the quarter. (Postpaid subscribers are those who are billed at the end of the month for the services they used, versus prepaid customers, who pay up front for wireless services.)
The telecom also increased its annual dividend to $3.68, up 5.1 per cent or 18 cents a share.
The company said it expects to increase its revenue by between 1 and 5 per cent and its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) by 2 to 5 per cent this year.
Glen LeBlanc, the company’s chief financial officer, noted that the latest wave of the pandemic is slowing the pace of recovery in roaming revenues, product sales, business customer spending and advertising. Roaming fees, which telecoms charge when customers use their cellphones abroad, have plummeted during the pandemic because of travel restrictions.
BCE invested $4.84-billion in its networks last year as it accelerated its rollout of 5G wireless services as well as fibre-optic and wireless home internet.
Scotiabank analyst Jeff Fan said in a research note that BCE’s network investments are likely to peak this year.
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Alexandra Posadzki