BCE reports profit boost after wave of job cuts

BCE Inc. boosted its profits despite a dip in revenue last quarter as the telecom giant began to feel the financial effect of thousands of job cuts from earlier this year.

BCE Inc. boosted its profits despite a dip in revenue last quarter as the telecom giant began to feel the financial effect of thousands of job cuts from earlier this year.

Earnings attributable to shareholders jumped 63 per cent year-over-year to $537 million in the company's second quarter.

The higher profits stemmed from lower expenses, including lighter buying obligations and severance and acquisition costs, the company said.

Revenues in the quarter ended June 30 slipped one per cent from the same period a year earlier to $6.01 billion. Chief executive Mirko Bibic attributed the decrease to cheap offers at rival mobile and internet providers that drove down prices and lured away customers as well as the closure of 107 outlets of The Source -- 39 per cent of the electronics retailer's locations.

"On wireless and on pricing, we are facing the most intense competitive pressure in the history of our industry in Canada," he told analysts on a conference call Thursday.

"While consolidated top-line growth continued to be impacted by sustained competitive pricing pressures and expected revenue loss from The Source, we remain laser-focused on profitable margin-accretive subscriber growth and driving costs out of the organization."

In February, BCE announced that 4,800 jobs "at all levels of the company" would be cut in a staff reduction of about nine per cent. The layoffs came as part of a restructuring that axed multiple television newscasts, including at CTV and BNN Bloomberg.