Telus profit declines

Photo: Contributed

Telus Corp. says its profit for the fourth quarter was hit by costs related to a workforce reduction announced in November and by accounting expenses related to upgrades in network technology.

Net income for the final three months of 2015 dropped 16.3 per cent from a year earlier to $261 million from $312 million.

Restructuring and other costs — largely related to higher employee benefits because of the downsizing — grew to $99 million in the quarter from $26 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Telus also had a $40 million increase in depreciation expense, as a result of investments in new network technologies.

Its adjusted net income had a smaller year-over-year decline, slipping 1.2 per cent to $324 million from $328 million.

Revenue improved by 2.8 per cent to $3.2 billion, with the increase mainly from data services.

Its wireless arm had $1.6 billion of revenue and average revenue per user increased by 0.6 per cent to $36.74.

The Vancouver-based company announced in November that it would eliminate 1,500 positions, including voluntary departures and early retirements. It announced at the same time that the dividend to shareholders would go up.

On Thursday, Telus said it had paid $252 million in dividends during the fourth quarter and $234 million to repurchase its own shares under its 2015-16 share buyback program. Its next dividend will be 44 cents per share, payable April 1.