Telus 4th Quarter 2006 Results up

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Telus tripled its fourth-quarter profit from 2005 to report earnings of $236.2 million or 69 cents per diluted share for the three months ended Dec. 31. That compared with a profit of $78.5 million or 22 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2005.

Revenues moved up eight per cent to $2.25 billion from $2.09 billion in the year-before period.

The average analyst estimate had been for earnings of 66 cents per share based on 13 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The average revenue estimate was for $2.23 billion, based on seven analysts.

For 2006 Telus reported a profit of $1.12 billion, $3.23 per diluted share, up 60.3 per cent from $700.3 million, $1.94 in 2005. Revenues grew to $8.68 billion, compared with $8.14 billion in 2005.

Wireless was a key driver for the business, however the company fell short of its target for net new subscribers for the year with 535,000 net additions compared with a target of 550,000.

Lower-than-expected new subscribers was somewhat offset by higher average revenue per user of $64.50 compared with $62.54 a year ago, as mobile phone users used more data services.

In setting its targets for 2007, Telus forecast revenue between $9.175 billion and $9.275 billion, up six to seven per cent from 2006. Normalized earnings per share are expected to be $3.25 to $3.45 per share, up 16 to 24 per cent.

Capital expenditures are expected to be about $1.75 billion, up eight per cent.

The average analyst estimate for 2007 had been for revenue of $9.154 billion based on 13 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The average earnings estimate had been for $3.27 per share, based on 16 analysts.

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