Telus guides for 6% revenue growth in 2018 after strong Q4

Canadian operator Telus said fourth quarter revenues lifted almost 5 percent from the year before to CAD 3.467 billion, driven by growth at both mobile and fixed operations. CEO Darren Entwistle said that the quarter made a strong finish to the year, and the company is targeting 2018 revenue lifting 6 percent and EBITDA going 7 percent higher. The outlook for free cash flow is expected up to CAD 1.4 billion. 

The net profit for the quarter advanced to CAD 282 million or CAD 0.47 per share, from 87 million and 0.14, on the back of significantly lower restructuring and other costs. EBITDA jumped 46 percent to CAD 1.1 billion while the adjusted EBITDA increased 4.7 percent to CAD 1.164 billion. Free cash flow went up to CAD 274 million from a negative 191 million, mainly due to the increased EBITDA. The company said it will keep its quarterly dividend at CAD 0.5050, after raising the level in the previous quarter. 

Mobile network revenue went up 5.4 percent to CAD 1.8 billion, reflecting postpaid subscriber growth from smartphone adoption and the acquisition of certain operations from Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS), higher ARPU as customers move to higher-rate plans including Premium Plus, and increased data consumption. At wireline, data services and equipment revenue rose 6.0 percent to CAD 1.1 billion, reflecting increased internet and data service revenues from continued high-speed internet subscriber growth and higher revenue per customer, as well as acquisitions and an increase in Telus TV revenues from subscriber growth.  

Telus added 156,000 new postpaid mobile, high-speed internet and Telus TV, up 29,000 from the year before. The net additions incorporated 121,000 postpaid mobile customers, 21,000 high-speed internet, and 14,000 Telus TV customers. The company’s total mobile subscriber base of 8.9 million lifted 3.8 percent from the year earlier, reflecting a 5.7 percent increase in its postpaid subscriber base to 8.0 million. Total high-speed internet connections went 5.3 percent higher to 1.7 million over the year, while the Telus TV subscriber base of 1.1 million went higher by 3.9 percent. The company’s total subscriber base rose to 13.050 million from 12.673 million year-on-year.