BCE reports second quarter 2024 results

Press Release

MONTRÉAL, Aug. 1, 2024– BCE Inc. (TSX: BCE) (NYSE: BCE) today reported results for the second quarter (Q2) of 2024.

“Bell’s Q2 results reflect the Bell team’s disciplined execution and continued ability to navigate an evolving marketplace,” said Mirko Bibic, President and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada.

“The superiority and speeds of our fibre network are continuing to drive new Internet subscriber growth, with our highest Q2 consumer retail Internet net additions in 17 years and an 18% year-over-year increase in households subscribing to Internet and mobility service bundles where we have fibre. In the highly-competitive wireless environment, we’re striking the right balance between subscriber growth and profitability, and our promotional discipline is delivering new subscribers focused on higher-value connections. Total postpaid and prepaid mobile phone net additions were up 4.4% in Q2 to 131,043 and we see potential for continued growth given Canada’s population expansion.

We’re also making strides in our transformation from a telco to a tech services and digital media leader. Our expanding capabilities in cloud services, security and managed automation drove strong business solutions services revenue growth of 22% this quarter, and we’re seeing momentum in 5G and IoT B2B solutions with mobile connected device net activations up 10.5% over 2023. On the Bell Media front, our advanced advertising solutions for clients drove a 35% increase in digital advertising revenue.

With additional transformational investments and transactions this quarter, including the acquisitions of Stratejm and CloudKettle, the expansion of our strategic collaboration with ServiceNow, investments in AI throughout our business, and the announcement of our intent to sell Northwestel to Sixty North Unity, a consortium of Indigenous communities from the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, we have a clear strategic vision and path forward for continued execution excellence heading into the back half of the year.”

¹Adjusted EBITDA is a total of segments measure, adjusted net earnings and free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures and adjusted EPS is a non-GAAP ratio. Refer to the Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures section in this news release for more information on these measures.

²Adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as adjusted EBITDA divided by operating revenues. Refer to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) section in this news release for more information on adjusted EBITDA margin.

³ Refer to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) section in this news release for more information on subscriber (or customer) units.

⁴Based on a third-party score (Global Wireless Solutions OneScore) calculated using Bell wireless 5G and 5G+ network testing in Canada against other national wireless networks from April 2023 to June 2024.

⁵Digital revenues are comprised of advertising revenue from digital platforms including web sites, mobile apps, connected TV apps and out-of-home (OOH) digital assets/platforms, as well as advertising procured through Bell digital buying platforms and subscription revenue from direct-to-consumer services and video-on-demand services.

• Bell entered into an agreement (opens in new window)  with Sixty North Unity, a consortium of Indigenous communities from the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, for the sale of Northwestel, for up to $1 billion, subject to adjustments. The transaction will advance economic reconciliation through Indigenous ownership of telecommunications infrastructure in the North. Closing of the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including securing financing by Sixty North Unity, the completion of confirmatory due diligence, and receipt of the Competition Bureau’s approval, and, as such, there can be no assurances that the proposed transaction will ultimately be consummated.

• Bell deployed 3800 MHz spectrum (opens in new window)  in select areas of Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo making Canada’s fastest 5G+ network even faster.
• For the second year in a row, Bell was named fastest Internet and fastest Wi-Fi in the Ookla Q1-Q2 2024 Speedtest Awards report (opens in new window) ⁶, maintaining its position as Canada’s most awarded Internet service provider⁷.

• Bell Media completed the previously announced acquisition (opens in new window)  of OUTFRONT Media Inc.’s Canadian out-of-home (OOH) media business, OUTEDGE Media Canada, to support Bell Media’s digital media strategy and deliver multi-channel marketing solutions across Canada.
• Bell announced the acquisition of Canadian tech services companies Stratejm and CloudKettle Inc. (opens in new window) , enhancing in-house expertise in managed cybersecurity and Salesforce digital workflow services, and strengthening end-to-end AI-powered support for enterprise customers.

• Bell expanded its multi-year strategic agreement (opens in new window)  with ServiceNow to develop new capabilities within its telecommunications service experience for businesses while accelerating Bell’s own digital transformation from a telco to a tech services and digital media leader. Bell is one of ServiceNow’s largest communications customers with a first-of-its-kind collaboration in Canada.
• Bell announced a three-year partnership with world-leading AI research institute, Mila (opens in new window) , to develop AI solutions and cultivate a vibrant AI ecosystem within Québec and across Canada.

• At Upfront (opens in new window)  and Futur (opens in new window)  2024, Bell Media announced its 2024-2025 slate of original content, including 36 new English and French original programs with 62 previously announced titles, for a total of 98, with additional programs set to be announced in the coming months.
• Bell Media announced new FAST channel platform partners (opens in new window) , Plex and The Roku Channel, which will soon air Bell Media’s 10 FAST channels.
• An average of 1.48 million people tuned in to watch the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix 2024 (opens in new window)  on TSN, RDS, CTV and Noovo, marking it as the highest F1 audience on record.
• A total of 18.7 million people tuned in for coverage of the CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 and UEFA EURO 2024 (opens in new window)  across TSN, RDS and CTV.

• Bell Media announced the launch of Bell Ads for Business (opens in new window) , an advertising platform that allows businesses across Canada to take advantage of the unique and easy-to-use capabilities of the Bell demand-side platform and target intended audiences.
• Bell Media becomes the strategic Canadian partner of TikTok Pulse Premiere (opens in new window)  in Canada, an advertising solution that gives advertisers the control and predictability to choose where their ads are placed, adjacent to select publisher content on the For You feed, including adjacency for Bell Media TikTok content.
• Bell Media is the exclusive Canadian sales partner of Dotdash Meredith (opens in new window) , America’s largest digital publisher, expanding premium digital advertising in Canada.

• Bell and Best Buy Canada opened the first 24 Best Buy Express stores (opens in new window)  in locations across British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Québec.
• Bell introduced the Bell Business Wi-Fi App (opens in new window)  for customers, delivering a next-level Wi-Fi experience for small businesses in Ontario and Québec.

• Bell’s ESG objectives, sustainable investments and diversity and equity initiatives helped Bell become the top-rated telecommunications company and ranked 19^th overall on the Corporate Knights Best 50 Corporate Citizens (opens in new window) ⁸ list for 2024.
• Scarborough Health Network (SHN) opened the new Bell Seniors’ Mental Health Clinic (opens in new window)  on June 20 as part of SHN’s Community Mental Health Centre that was entirely funded by donors – including a $1 million commitment from Bell that was initiated in 2020 and will be gifted in full by 2025.

⁶Based on analysis by Ookla, a web testing and network diagnostics company, of Speedtest Intelligence data of fixed and Wi-Fi nationally aggregated Speed Score results for Q1-Q2 2023 and Q1-Q2 2024. Ookla compared 21,155,301 user-initiated tests that are taken on various Speedtest applications connected to a fixed network, including tests taken on mobile phones over a Wi-Fi connection.

⁷Most awarded Internet based on Bell competitive analysis. Bell awards include Ookla Q1-Q2 2024 Speedtest Awards and BrandSpark Most Trusted ISP. BrandSpark is a research and consulting firm. Winners were determined by a national survey of 25,161 Canadian shoppers who gave their top-of-mind, unaided answers to which brands they trust most and why in categories they have recently shopped.

⁸ According to Corporate Knights Inc. The annual ranking was released on June 26, 2024 and is based on a set of 25 ESG indicators that compares Canadian-headquartered privately held companies and Canadian Crown corporations with at least $1 billion annual revenue, Canadian listed companies with more than $1 billion annual revenue, companies included in S&P / TSX Renewable Entergy and Clean Technology Index (all revenues), top 10 largest Canadian cooperative organizations by revenue, top 10 credit unions by assets under management and those with at least 100,000 members and all 2023 Best 50 companies. All companies are scored on up to 25 key performance indicators covering resource management, employee management, sustainable revenue and sustainable investment and supplier performance in comparison to their peer group, with 50% of each company’s score assigned to sustainable revenue and sustainable investment.

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