-- BCE (BCE.TO), up 1.6% in U.S. pre-market trading, Thursday said first-quarter adjusted earnings declined even as revenue increased, but both measures beat estimates.
Adjusted earnings, stripped of most one-time items, declined 7% to $589 million, or $0.63 per share, from $633 million, or $0.69 per share, in the prior year period. Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast $0.58 per share.
Quarterly sales climbed 4% to $6.2 billion, beating the consensus forecast of $6.09 billion. The increase was due to 3.4% higher service revenue of $5.35 billion and a 7.9% hike in product revenue to $818 million, BCE said.
Bell Business Markets revenue also advanced, up 9.7% on 113% growth in AI-powered solutions revenue. The higher revenue was driven by strong demand for Ateko, Bell Cyber and Bell AI Fabric, said chief executive Mirko Bibic.
The company reported 49,525 residential fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) Internet net subscriber activations, including Ziply Fiber, which was up 3.2%. BCE reported 16,947 postpaid mobile phone net subscriber activations, up 26,545 year over year, while Crave subscriptions jumped 25% to 4.74 million, making the first quarter "the most watched quarter" in Crave history, a statement added.
BCE confirmed its financial guidance targets for 2026, updated on March 16, to incorporate the expected financial impact of Bell AI Fabric's new 300 MW data centre in Saskatchewan.
The company will pay a regular quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share on July 15, to shareholders of record on June 15.
BCE shares were last seen up US$0.38, to US$24.63 in New York pre-market trading. It closed up $0.29, to $33.12 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday.