In This Article:
BCE Inc. BCE reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of C$0.79 (56 cents) compared with C$0.76 in the prior-year quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at 50 cents.
Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Quarterly total operating revenues dipped 0.8% year over year to C$6,422 million ($4,590 million). The consensus estimate was pegged at $4,469 million. The decline is attributed to a 1.1% fall in Service revenues, which totaled C$5,287 million, amid 0.9% growth in Product revenues, which came in at C$1,135 million.
In response to the weak revenue performance, BCE stock tanked 5.5% and closed the trading session at $23.52 on Feb.6. It also went down 1.6% in the pre-market trading on Feb. 7. Shares of the company have plunged 40.3% in the past year compared with the industry's decline of 15.2%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Segmental Results
The company has combined its Bell Wireless and Bell Wireline operating segments to form a segment called Bell CTS. BCE now reports its segment results under Bell CTS and Bell Media.
Bell CTS’ operating revenues went down 1.1% year over year to C$5,681 million due to soft demand trends in service revenues, offset by increased product sales.
Within the Bell CTS segment, Service revenues fell 1.6% to C$4,546 million due to lower revenues from legacy voice, data and satellite TV, higher discounts on residential services, and a fall in mobile phone ARPU. However, growth in mobile, Internet and IPTV subscribers, stronger enterprise service sales and acquisitions like Stratejm, CloudKettle and HGC Technologies helped offset some losses.
Product revenues inched up 0.9% to C$1,135 million, driven by higher land mobile radio sales to government enterprises and more sales of premium mobile phones. This was partly offset by lower consumer electronics revenues due to store closures and conversions to Best Buy Express under its Best Buy Canada partnership.
BCE, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
BCE, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | BCE, Inc. Quote
Postpaid mobile phone net subscriber activations were 56,550, down 56.1% year over year. The decline was due to 9.5% fewer new activations, adversely impacted by slower population growth from immigration policies and reduced sales from The Source store conversions to Best Buy Express. Higher postpaid churn in the prior-year quarter led to fewer net adds due to stronger competition and promotions.
Prepaid customer base fell by 5,480 in the fourth quarter, improving from a 36,630 loss in the prior-year quarter. This was due to a 15% rise in activations from expanded retail distribution, while churn stayed at 6.15%.
Bell Media revenues grew 1.2% year over year to C$832 million, boosted by higher advertising and subscriber revenues. Total digital revenue rose 6%, driven by strong digital ad growth from Bell Media’s programmatic marketplace and increased Crave and sports streaming subscribers.
In 2024, digital revenues made up 42% of Bell Media's total revenues, rising from 35% in 2023.