By Shruti Shekar Yahoo Finance
Vancouver-based carrier Telus reported a three per cent net income growth in Q4 2019 totalling $379 million, or 61 cents per share.
In its earnings report that was released on February 13, the carrier reported 2.5 per cent year-over-year operating revenue growth totalling $3.85 billion.
In the quarter, the carrier added 130,000 wireless subscribers.
Telus’ CFO Doug French said in a phone interview that the carrier does not reveal a breakdown of customer adoption of its unlimited data plans but said “the quality of our loading is second to none.”
“We are very happy with our with the penetration of customers taking the ‘Peace of Mind’ plans,” he said. “We’ve seen a nice mix to the higher quality Telus brand versus flanker brands in the quarter.”
The carrier launched new unlimited data plans in summer 2019.
Rogers reported that it has 1.4 million subscribers to its unlimited plans. Telus, like Bell, does not report its adoption rate.
On Average Billing Per User, Telus reported $72.79, which was down one per cent.
“The slight decrease reflects declines in chargeable usage, the impact of the competitive environment putting pressure on base rate plan prices in the current and prior periods, and the previously mentioned impact to wholesale roaming revenue,” Telus said.
On Average Revenue Per User, the carrier reported $59.29, a decrease of 1.7 per cent.
Telus’ monthly subscriber churn rate, the measure of subscribers who deactivate their service, was “below one per cent for [the] sixth consecutive year.”
The very slight decline reflects “heightened competitive intensity during the seasonal promotional period,” Telus said.
Telus also announced a two-for-one share split to shareholders that will take effect on March 13. This will be the company’s second share split since 2013.
Telus said the split “will enhance our trading liquidity” and “improve the affordability of our share for smaller retail investors.”