Benzinga | Aug 5, 2021 12:19PM EDT

BCE Beats On Q2 Earnings, Declares Dividend, Reiterates FY21 Outlook

* BCE Inc (NYSE:BCE) reported second-quarter FY21 operating revenue growth of 6.4% year-on-year to $5.7 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $4.43 billion.

* Service revenue rose 5% Y/Y to $5.04 billion, and Product revenue increased 18.8% Y/Y to $658 million. Strength in wireless, residential Internet and media drove the growth.

* Bell Wireless's wireless operating revenue grew 10.7% Y/Y to $2.1 billion, wireline operating revenue was down 1.3% Y/Y to $3 billion.

* Bell Media's media operating revenue increased 30.4% Y/Y to $755 million, driven by increased advertiser spending across TV, radio, out of home, and digital media platforms, reflecting a recovery in commercial activity and higher subscriber revenue.

* Adjusted EBITDA rose 6.2% Y/Y to $2.5 billion driven by growth at every Bell operating segment.

* Adjusted EPS of $0.83 beat the analyst consensus of $0.65.

* BCE generated $2.5 billion in operating cash flow and held $1.8 billion in cash and equivalents.

* It declared a quarterly dividend of $0.875 per share, payable on Oct. 15, to shareholders of record on Sep. 15.

* Canadians continue to embrace the power of its next-generation networks like 5G and Bell pure fiber, CEO Mirko Bibic said.

* Outlook: BCE reiterated FY21 revenue outlook of $18.995 billion-$19.553 billion. It sees FY21 EPS between $2.482-$$2.605.

* Price action: BCE shares traded higher by 1.17% at $50.30 on the last check Thursday.