Total Mobile and Fixed customer growth of
209,000, up 46,000 over last year, and our strongest first quarter
on record, driven by strong demand for our leading portfolio of
Mobility and Fixed services
Robust Mobile Phone net additions of 45,000
and record first quarter Connected Device net additions of 101,000;
industry-leading postpaid mobile phone churn of 0.91 per
cent
Record first quarter Fixed customer net
additions of 63,000, including 30,000 internet customer additions,
driven by TELUS' PureFibre network and leading portfolio of bundled
services across Mobile and Home
Industry-leading customer growth enabling
Mobile Network Revenue and Fixed Data Services Revenue growth of
2.9 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively; TTech Adjusted EBITDA
growth of 4.1 per cent and strong margin expansion of 160 basis
points to 39.4 per cent reflecting cost savings from ongoing
efficiency programs
Quarterly dividend raised to $0.3891, an increase of 7.0 per cent over the
same period last year and our twenty-sixth increase since
May 2011, representing a yield of
approximately 7.0 per cent; Leading dividend growth program
supported by Adjusted EBITDA growth outlook and strong annual free
cash flow expansion
Reiterating our 2024 Financial Targets
including TTech Operating Revenues and Adjusted EBITDA growth of 2
to 4 per cent and 5.5 to 7.5 per cent, respectively, Consolidated
Capital Expenditures of approximately $2.6
billion and Free Cash Flow of approximately $2.3 billion
VANCOUVER, BC, May 9, 2024
/CNW/ - TELUS Corporation today released its unaudited results
for the first quarter of 2024. Consolidated operating revenues and
other income decreased by 0.6 per cent over the same period a
year ago to $4.9 billion. This
decline was driven by lower service revenues in our two reportable
segments: TELUS technology solutions (TTech) and Digitally-led
customer experiences – TELUS International (DLCX). Within TTech,
higher mobile network, residential internet and security revenues,
largely driven by subscriber growth, as well as growth in managed,
unmanaged and other fixed data services to new and existing
business customers was offset by declines in TV and fixed legacy
voice services revenues due to technological substitution. The
decline in DLCX operating revenues resulted from lower external
revenues in the DLCX segment across most of its industry verticals.
See First Quarter 2024 Operating Highlights within this news
release for a discussion on TTech and DLCX results.
"In the first quarter, our team once again delivered against our
differentiated growth strategy, leveraging our superior asset
portfolio, consistent execution track record and proactive cost
efficiency initiatives to deliver industry-leading customer
additions and solid financial results against the backdrop of a
dynamic operating environment," said Darren
Entwistle, President and CEO. "Our robust performance is
underpinned by our strategic focus on margin accretive customer
growth, globally leading broadband networks and customer-centric
culture, which enabled our strongest first quarter on record, with
total customer net additions of 209,000, up 28 per cent,
year-over-year. This included strong mobile phone net additions of
45,000, and record first quarter customer additions for both
connected devices of 101,000 and total fixed net additions of
63,000. TELUS' industry-leading growth reflects the consistent
potency of our operational execution, and our unmatched bundled
product offerings across Mobile and Home. Our team's passion for
delivering customer service excellence contributed to continued
leading loyalty across our key product lines. Notably, postpaid
mobile phone churn was 0.91 per cent, as we begin the 11th
consecutive year below the one per cent level."
"Within our global businesses, today, TELUS International (TI)
also reported its first quarter results, delivering robust
profitability and cash flows amidst what remains a challenging
global macroeconomic operating environment, resulting in a
difficult prior year comparable. Despite the near-term top line
challenges, our TI team has executed against significant cost
efficiency programs over the past ten months, positioning the
business to achieve further EBITDA growth and incremental margin
expansion, along with strong cash flow generation, as we move
through the course of the year. We remain highly confident in TI's
strategy and investment thesis, which is amplified by meaningful
opportunities in respect of digital transformation – particularly
with generative AI adoption – and the continuing critical
importance of differentiated digital customer experience solutions
in the market, creating a vibrant tailwind for TI's medium- and
long-term growth and profitability. In TELUS Health, we achieved
first quarter revenues of $420
million, alongside 28 per cent EBITDA contribution growth.
This was supported by the achievement of $251 million in combined annualized synergies,
towards our overall objective of $427
million by the end of 2025. Furthermore, we drove a seven
per cent year-over-year increase in our global lives covered to
nearly 72 million. We continue to make strong progress scaling
TELUS Health and TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, where we
remain focused on accelerating the significant growth profile these
differentiated global businesses represent by leveraging the
expertise, experience, and high-performance culture and talent of
our entire team, inclusive of leveraging significant cross-sell
synergies across all lines of our business."
"The record customer growth we continue to report is underpinned
by our dedicated team who are passionate about delivering superior
service offerings and digital capabilities, over our world-leading
wireless and PureFibre broadband networks. In addition to driving
extensive socio-economic benefits for Canadians in communities from
coast-to-coast, for decades to come, the significant broadband
network investments we have made enable the continued advancement
of our financial and operational performance, and the long-term
sustainability of our industry-leading dividend growth program.
Today, we are announcing a seven per cent dividend increase,
reflecting our unwavering commitment to delivering superior value
to our shareholders. Furthermore, it builds on our consistent track
record of delivering on our multi-year dividend growth program
established in 2011, and most recently extended through 2025,
targeting annual growth in the range of seven to 10 per cent.
Today's increase represents our 26th over the last 14 years and
reflects our unwavering confidence in delivering leading
operational and financial results on a sustained basis.
Importantly, our strong outlook includes our expectations for
continued free cash flow expansion in the years ahead, driven by
ongoing strong EBITDA growth and moderating capital expenditure
intensity, further supporting the long-term sustainability and
quality of our dividend growth program."
"Reflecting our team's long-standing belief in the synergistic
relationship between doing well in business and doing good in our
communities, May marks the official kick-off of our 19th annual
TELUS Days of Giving," continued Darren. "This year, with the
support of our extended TELUS family, I have every confidence that
we will exceed our goal of inspiring 80,000 volunteers supporting
positive outcomes in communities across the 32 countries in which
we operate. It is thanks to this unparalleled level of caring and
commitment that our team members and retirees, globally, have
contributed 2.2 million days of giving since 2000 – more than any
other company on the planet."
Doug French, Executive
Vice-president and CFO said, "In the first quarter of 2024, our
team navigated a highly competitive environment across mobility and
fixed to deliver healthy operational and financial results. Within
our global businesses, investments in our channel and distribution
strength is starting to pay dividends with good momentum on
increased sales, however, in the short term, the challenging
macroeconomic climate continues to elongate sales cycles, impacting
top line growth. We expect to see this steadily improve over the
coming quarters. Despite the revenue pressures however, we
delivered robust consolidated Adjusted EBITDA growth of 4.3 per
cent and strong consolidated margin expansion of 170 basis points
year over year to 37.6 per cent. Furthermore, within our TTech
segment, Adjusted EBITDA was higher by 4.1 per cent and margin of
39.4 per cent improved by 160 basis points over the same period a
year ago. This strong performance reflects our unrelenting focus on
efficiency and effectiveness to drive significant cost reductions
on a permanent basis. As we move through the rest of the year, we
remain focused on driving towards achieving our financial targets
for 2024, which we reiterated today."
"During the first quarter, our team advanced our leadership
position in sustainability, issuing our sixth sustainability-linked
bond (SLB), linking our financing to the achievement of ambitious
environmental targets," added Doug. "Furthermore, our latest SLB
offering affirms TELUS as having the largest SLB program in the
Canadian fixed income market and reinforces our sustainability
commitments as a global leader in ESG. At the end of the quarter,
our average cost of long-term debt was 4.37 per cent, our average
term to maturity of long-term debt is nearly 11 years and our net
debt to EBITDA ratio was 3.78 times. As we progress through 2024
and into future years, we anticipate our leverage ratio to improve
as we work back towards our target ratio."
"Our leading growth profile, and robust balance sheet position,
support our well-established dividend growth program. Our
commitment to deliver on this program is underpinned by our
confidence in executing our growth strategy and generating
meaningful free cash flow on a sustained basis from our leading
EBITDA growth profile and low capital intensity. This is balanced
against other capital allocation priorities, including ongoing
strategic investments along with maintaining a strong balance sheet
to provide us ample flexibility to further support our growth
ambitions and shareholder capital returns," concluded Doug.
As compared to the same period a year ago, net income in the
quarter of $140 million was down 38
per cent and Basic earnings per share (EPS) of $0.09 decreased by 40 per cent. These decreases
were driven by the impacts from: (i) higher depreciation and
amortization from network leases and increased real estate
rationalization; increases related to the addition of capital
assets acquired in business acquisitions; growth in capital assets
in support of the expansion of our broadband footprint, including
our generational investment to connect homes and businesses to
TELUS PureFibre and 5G technology coverage; successful internet, TV
and security subscriber loading; and investments in our fibre-optic
technology to support our technology strategy to improve network
coverage and capacity, including the ongoing build-out of our 5G
network; (ii) higher financing costs reflecting an increase in
average long-term debt balances outstanding, attributable in part
to business acquisitions, an increase in the effective interest
rate and an increase in unrealized changes in virtual power
purchase agreements forward element which represent the estimated
unrealized amounts recorded from our virtual power purchase
agreements (VPPAs) with renewable energy projects as of
March 31, 2024; and (iii) higher
restructuring and other costs, primarily related to cost efficiency
and effectiveness programs, including workforce reductions, real
estate rationalization, and personnel-related restructuring and
other costs that were recorded in the prior year. As it relates to
EPS, the trends also reflect the effect of a higher number of
Common shares outstanding. When excluding certain costs and other
adjustments (see 'Reconciliation of adjusted Net income' in
this news release), adjusted net income of $390 million increased by 1.0 per cent over the
same period last year, while adjusted basic EPS of $0.26 was down 3.7 per cent over the same period
last year. Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP financial measure and
adjusted basic EPS is a non-GAAP ratio. For further explanation of
these measures, see 'Non-GAAP and other specified financial
measures' in this news release.
Compared to the same period last year, consolidated EBITDA
increased by 1.1 per cent to more than $1.6
billion and Adjusted EBITDA increased by 4.3 per cent to
approximately $1.9 billion. The
growth in Adjusted EBITDA reflects: (i) broad-based cost reduction
efforts across both the TTech and DLCX segments, including
workforce reductions, synergies achieved between
LifeWorks® and our legacy Health business, and an
increase in TTech outsourcing to DLCX resulting in competitive
benefits given the lower cost structure in DLCX, as well as savings
in marketing, discretionary and administrative costs; (ii) higher
mobile network, residential internet and security revenues, largely
driven by subscriber growth; (iii) higher net gains in other
income; and (iv) growth in managed, unmanaged and other fixed data
services to new and existing business customers. These factors were
partly offset by: (i) lower mobile phone ARPU; (ii) merit-based
compensation increases; (iii) labour cost imbalances arising from
reductions in service volume demand in the DLCX segment; (iv)
declining TV and fixed legacy voice margins; (v) lower mobile
equipment margins; (vi) lower health and agriculture and consumer
goods revenues from increased client churn; (vii) higher costs
related to the scaling of our digital capabilities, inclusive of
increased subscription-based licences, and cloud usage costs; and
(viii) higher bad debt expense.
In the first quarter, we added 209,000 net customer additions,
up 46,000 over the same period last year, and inclusive of 45,000
mobile phones and 101,000 connected devices, in addition to 30,000
internet, 19,000 TV and 22,000 security customer connections. This
was partly offset by residential voice losses of 8,000. Our total
TTech subscriber base of approximately 19.2 million is up 6.8 per
cent over the last twelve months, reflecting a 4.7 per cent
increase in our mobile phones subscriber base to over 9.8 million,
and a 23 per cent increase in our connected devices subscriber base
to more than 3.2 million. Additionally, our internet connections
grew by 5.5 per cent over the last twelve months to approximately
2.7 million customer connections, our TV customer base stands at
1.3 customers, and our security subscriber base increased by 7.8
per cent to approximately 1.1 million customers. Lastly, our
residential voice subscriber base declined slightly by 2.8 per cent
to approximately 1.1 million.
In health services, as of the end of the first quarter of 2024,
virtual care members were 5.9 million and healthcare lives covered
were 71.7 million, up 14 per cent and 7.0 per cent over the past
twelve months, respectively. Digital health transactions in the
first quarter of 2024 were 159.0 million, up 6.8 per cent over the
first quarter of 2023.
Cash provided by operating activities of $950 million increased by $189 million in the first quarter of 2024 and
free cash flow of $396 million
decreased by $139 million compared to
the same period a year ago. Consistent with our internal plan, the
decrease in free cash flow was driven by increased restructuring
and other costs disbursements, net of expense and increased
interest paid, partly offset by lower income taxes paid. Our
definition of free cash flow, for which there is no industry
alignment, is unaffected by accounting standards that do not impact
cash.
Consolidated capital expenditures of $725
million, including $14 million
for real estate development, increased by 1.7 per cent in the
first quarter of 2024. TTech real estate development capital
expenditures increased by $9 million
in the first quarter of 2024 due to an increase in capital
investment to support construction of multi-year development
projects, including TELUS OceanTM and other commercial
buildings in British Columbia.
DLCX capital expenditures increased by $6
million in the first quarter of 2024, primarily driven by
expansion in our Asia-Pacific and
Central America and others regions
(notably Africa), and software
investments in our managed digital solutions business. As at
March 31, 2024, our 5G network
covered approximately 31.8 million Canadians, representing
approximately 86 per cent of the population, and more than 3.2
million households and businesses in B.C., Alberta and Eastern
Quebec were connected to fibre-optic cable, which provides
these premises with immediate access to our fibre-optic
technology.
Consolidated Financial Highlights
C$ millions, except
footnotes and unless noted otherwise
|
Three months ended
March 31
|
Per cent
|
(unaudited)
|
2024
|
2023
|
change
|
Operating revenues
(arising from contracts with customers)
|
4,866
|
4,925
|
(1.2)
|
Operating revenues and
other income
|
4,932
|
4,964
|
(0.6)
|
Total operating
expenses
|
4,357
|
4,365
|
(0.2)
|
Net income
|
140
|
224
|
(37.5)
|
Net income attributable
to common shares
|
127
|
217
|
(41.5)
|
Adjusted Net
income(1)
|
390
|
386
|
1.0
|
Basic
EPS ($)
|
0.09
|
0.15
|
(40.0)
|
Adjusted basic
EPS(1) ($)
|
0.26
|
0.27
|
(3.7)
|
EBITDA(1)
|
1,638
|
1,621
|
1.1
|
Adjusted
EBITDA(1)
|
1,856
|
1,779
|
4.3
|
Capital
expenditures(2)
|
725
|
713
|
1.7
|
Cash provided by
operating activities
|
950
|
761
|
24.8
|
Free cash
flow(1)
|
396
|
535
|
(26.0)
|
Total telecom
subscriber connections(3) (thousands)
|
19,168
|
17,953
|
6.8
|
Healthcare lives
covered(4 (millions)
|
71.7
|
67.0
|
7.0
|
|
Notations used in the
table above: n/m – not meaningful.
|
|
|
(1)
|
These are non-GAAP and
other specified financial measures, which do not have standardized
meanings under IFRS-IASB and might not be comparable to those used
by other issuers. For further definitions and explanations of these
measures, see 'Non-GAAP and other specified financial
measures' in this news release.
|
(2)
|
Capital expenditures
include assets purchased, excluding right-of-use lease assets, but
not yet paid for, and consequently differ from Cash payments for
capital assets, excluding spectrum licences, as reported in the
interim consolidated financial statements. Refer to Note 31
of the interim consolidated financial statements for further
information.
|
(3)
|
The sum of active
mobile phone subscribers, connected device subscribers, internet
subscribers, residential voice subscribers, TV subscribers and
security subscribers, measured at the end of the respective periods
based on information in billing and other source systems. Effective
for the first quarter of 2024, with retrospective application to
January 1, 2023, we reduced our mobile phone subscriber base by
283,000 subscribers to remove a subset of our public services
customers that are now subject to dynamic pricing auction models.
We believe adjusting our base for these low-margin customers
provides a more meaningful reflection of the underlying performance
of our mobile phone business and our focus on profitable growth. As
a result of this change, associated operating statistics (ARPU and
churn) have also been adjusted. Effective January 1, 2024, on a
prospective basis, we adjusted our TV subscriber base to remove
97,000 subscribers as we have ceased marketing our Pik
TV® product.
|
First Quarter 2024 Operating Highlights
TELUS technology solutions (TTech)
- TTech operating revenues (arising from contracts with
customers) increased by $15 million
or 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, primarily reflecting
increases in mobile network revenue and fixed data services
revenues, as described below. Decreases in mobile equipment and
other service revenues, fixed voice services revenues, fixed
equipment and other service revenues, health services and
agriculture and consumer goods services were partial offsets.
- TTech EBITDA decreased by $2
million or 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, while
TTech Adjusted EBITDA increased by $66
million or 4.1 per cent, reflecting: (i) broad-based cost
reduction efforts, including workforce reductions, synergies
achieved between LifeWorks and our legacy Health business, and
increase in TTech outsourcing to DLCX resulting in competitive
benefits given the lower cost structure in DLCX, as well as savings
in marketing, discretionary and administrative costs; (ii) higher
mobile network, residential internet and security revenues, largely
driven by subscriber growth; and (iii) growth in managed, unmanaged
and other fixed data services to new and existing business
customers. These factors were partially offset by: (i) lower mobile
phone ARPU (ii) merit-based compensation increases; (iii) a decline
in TV and legacy voice margins driven by technological
substitution; (iv) lower equipment margins; (v) lower gains in
other income; (vi) lower health and agriculture and consumer goods
revenues from increased client churn; (vii) higher costs related to
the scaling of our digital capabilities, inclusive of increased
subscription-based licences, and cloud usage costs; and (viii)
higher bad debt expense.
Mobile products and services
- Mobile network revenue increased by $49
million or 2.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2024,
largely due to growth in our mobile phone and connected device
subscriber base, as well as roaming revenue growth. These impacts
were partly offset by the impact of lower prices in base rate plans
and a decline in overage revenues.
- Mobile equipment and other service revenues decreased by
$36 million or 7.0 per cent in the
first quarter of 2024, due to a reduction in contracted volumes
attributable to our efforts to match only on economical offers due
to the aggressive promotional activity in addition to the growing
number of customers taking advantage of bring your own device plan
offerings. These were partly offset by the impact of higher-value
smartphones in the sales mix.
- TTech mobile products and services direct contribution
increased by $13 million or 0.8 per
cent in the first quarter of 2024, largely reflecting mobile
subscriber growth and higher roaming margins associated with rising
international travel volumes. These were partly offset by the
impact of lower prices in base rate plans and a decline in overage
revenues, lower equipment margin contribution from lower contracted
volume and increased competitor-driven discounting and higher
amortization of commissions attributable to rising retail traffic
in prior periods.
- Mobile phone ARPU was $59.31 in
the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of $1.07 or 1.8 per cent, attributable to the
adoption of base rate plans with lower prices in response to more
aggressive marketing and promotional activities targeting both new
and existing customers, which began to intensify in the second
quarter of 2023 and have continued through the first quarter of
2024, and a decline in overage revenues. These factors were partly
offset by higher roaming revenues as a result of increased
travel.
- Mobile phone gross additions were 376,000 in the first quarter
of 2024, an increase of 76,000, driven by growth in postpaid gross
additions in response to ongoing aggressive promotional activity,
as discussed above, and growth in the Canadian population.
- Mobile phone net additions were 45,000 in the first quarter of
2024, a decrease of 2,000, reflecting a higher mobile phone churn
rate, as described below, partially offset by higher mobile phone
gross additions.
- Our mobile phone churn rate was 1.13 per cent in the first
quarter of 2024, compared to 0.90 per cent in the first quarter of
2023, largely as a result of customer switching decisions in
response to more aggressive marketing and promotional activities,
as discussed above. These factors have been partly mitigated by our
continued focus on customer retention through our industry-leading
service and network quality, along with successful promotions and
bundled offerings.
- Connected device net additions were 101,000 in the first
quarter of 2024, an increase of 43,000, attributable to growth in
IoT connections from customers in the transportation, smart
buildings and healthcare industries.
Fixed products and services
- Fixed data services revenues increased by $31 million or 2.7 per cent in the first quarter
of 2024, driven by an increase in our internet, security and TV
subscribers and growth in managed, unmanaged and other services to
new and existing business customers. Our revenue per internet
customer remained consistent with the prior year, while fixed data
services growth was partially offset by lower TV revenue per
customer, reflecting an increased mix of customers selecting
smaller TV combination packages and technological
substitution.
- Fixed voice services revenues decreased by $13 million or 6.8 per cent in the first quarter
of 2024, reflecting the ongoing decline in legacy voice revenues as
a result of technological substitution and price plan changes.
Declines were partly mitigated by the success of our bundled
product offerings, our retention efforts and the migration from
legacy to IP services offerings.
- Fixed equipment and other service revenues decreased by
$11 million or 8.6 per cent in the
first quarter of 2024, largely due to a reduction in business
premises equipment sales, as equipment sales tend to be more
one-time in nature, and in the first quarter of 2023, there were
more hardware sales related to one large contract.
- TTech fixed products and services direct contribution increased
by $7 million or 0.5 per cent in the
first quarter of 2024, reflecting increased internet, business data
and security margins, driven by subscriber growth. These were
partly offset by declines in TV and legacy voice margins
attributable to technological substitution, as well as lower health
and agriculture revenues driven by customer churn.
- Internet net additions were 30,000 in the first quarter of
2024, a decrease of 5,000, attributable to a higher churn rate due
to macroeconomic and competitive pressures that have continued to
impact consumer purchasing decisions, partly offset by our success
in driving strong gross additions in both the consumer and business
markets through diversified product offerings.
- TV net additions were 19,000 in the first quarter of 2024, an
increase of 10,000, attributable to our diverse offerings catered
towards the changing needs of our consumers, partly offset by a
higher churn rate due to the same factors impacting internet net
additions.
- Security net additions were 22,000 in the first quarter of
2024, consistent with the prior year, attributable to offsetting
dynamics of higher demand for our bundled offerings and diverse
suite of products and services, and a higher churn rate due to the
same factors impacting internet net additions.
- Residential voice net losses were 8,000 in the first quarter of
2024, consistent with the prior year.
Health services
- Through TELUS Health, we are leveraging technology to deliver
connected solutions and services, improving access to care and
revolutionizing the flow of information while facilitating
collaboration, efficiency, and productivity across the healthcare
ecosystem, progressing our vision of transforming healthcare and
empowering people to live healthier lives.
- Health services revenues decreased by $3
million or 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, driven
by customer churn outpacing the growth of new clients, partly
offset by an increase in pharmacy management software revenue and
virtual pharmacy sales.
- At the end of the first quarter of 2024, 5.9 million members
were enrolled in our virtual care services, an increase of 0.7
million over the past 12 months, attributable to the continued
adoption of virtual solutions that keep Canadians and others safely
connected to health and wellness care.
- At the end of the first quarter of 2024, our healthcare
programs covered 71.7 million lives, an increase of 4.7 million
over the past 12 months, mainly reflecting robust growth in our
employee and family assistance programs from both new and existing
clients across all of our regions, in addition to continued demand
for virtual solutions.
- Digital health transactions totalled 159.0 million in the first
quarter of 2024, an increase of 10.1 million, largely driven by
increased paid exchange of healthcare data between our health
benefits management system and care providers resulting from higher
patient demand for elective health services.
Agriculture and consumer goods services
- Through TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, we provide
innovative digital solutions and actionable data-insights that
better connect the global supply chain, driving more efficient
production processes and improving the safety, quality and
sustainability of food and consumer goods. Importantly, these
efforts are also enabling better traceability to the end consumer,
further supporting improved food outcomes.
- Agriculture and consumer goods services revenues decreased by
$2 million or 2.4 per cent,
reflecting transient headwinds and macroeconomic challenges and an
increase of customer churn in our program management offerings for
agricultural input manufacturers. These impacts were partly offset
by further diversifying our agriculture and consumer goods
solutions and growth in our animal agriculture pharmacy and
research revenues. Our agriculture and consumer goods revenues are
largely earned in U.S. dollars, and in the first quarter of 2024
compared to the first quarter of 2023, the exchange rate of the
Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar was consistent.
Digitally-led customer experiences – TELUS International
(DLCX)
- DLCX operating revenues (arising from contracts with customers)
decreased by $74 million or 9.8 per
cent in the first quarter of 2024. The decrease was primarily
attributable to lower revenues from a leading social media client
and a reduction in revenue in other industry verticals, notably in
eCommerce and fintech and travel and hospitality reflecting
macroeconomic conditions, which were partially offset by growth in
services provided to existing clients, including Google, as well as
new clients added since the same period in the prior year. Changes
in foreign currency exchange rates did not materially impact our
DLCX revenue growth. Revenues from contracts denominated in U.S.
dollars, European euros and other currencies will be affected by
changes in foreign exchange rates.
- Revenue from our tech and games industry vertical decreased by
$14 million or 3.6 per cent in the
first quarter of 2024, primarily due to lower revenue from a
leading social media client, partially offset by growth in revenue
from Google and other clients within this industry vertical.
- Revenue from our communications and media industry vertical
increased by $9 million or 4.3 per
cent in the first quarter of 2024, driven primarily by more
services provided to our TTech segment, partially offset by lower
service revenue from certain other telecommunication clients.
- Revenue from our eCommerce and fintech industry vertical
decreased by $15 million or 14 per
cent in the first quarter of 2024, due to lower service volume
demand from a large eCommerce client as well as certain fintech
clients.
- Revenue from our healthcare industry vertical increased by
$12 million or 22 per cent in the
first quarter of 2024, primarily due to additional services
provided to the healthcare business unit of our TTech segment.
- Revenue from our banking, financial services and insurance
industry vertical decreased by $11
million or 18 per cent in the first quarter of 2024,
primarily due to lower service volume demand from a global
financial institution client.
- All other verticals decreased by $24
million or 21 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 due to
lower revenue across various client accounts notably in the travel
and hospitality industry vertical.
- DLCX EBITDA increased by $29
million or 17 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 while
DLCX Adjusted EBITDA increased by $21
million or 11 per cent for the same period. The increases in
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to other income
arising from the revaluation of our provisions for written put
options, and lower share-based compensation expenses, which were
partially offset by lower revenue.
Corporate Highlights
TELUS makes significant
contributions and investments in the communities where team members
live, work and serve and to the Canadian economy on behalf of
customers, shareholders and team members. These include:
- Paying, collecting and remitting more than $605 million in the first quarter of 2024 to
federal, provincial and municipal governments in Canada consisting of corporate income taxes,
sales taxes, property taxes, employer portion of payroll taxes and
various regulatory fees. Since 2000, we have remitted approximately
$36 billion in these taxes.
- Investing $725 million in capital
expenditures primarily in communities across Canada in the first quarter of 2024 and over
$54 billion since 2000.
- Disbursing spectrum renewal fees of $55
million to Innovation, Science and Economic Development
Canada in the first quarter of 2024. Since 2000, our total tax and
spectrum remittances to federal, provincial and municipal
governments in Canada have
totalled more than $44 billion.
- Spending $2.4 billion in total
operating expenses in the first quarter of 2024, including goods
and services purchased of approximately $1.2
billion. Since 2000, we have spent $161 billion and $109
billion, respectively, in these areas.
- Generating a total team member payroll of $1 billion in the first quarter of 2024,
including wages and other employee benefits, and payroll taxes of
$79 million. Since 2000, total team
member payroll totals $62
billion.
- Returning approximately $554
million in dividends declared through April 2024 to individual shareholders, mutual
fund owners, pensioners and institutional investors. Since 2004, we
have returned more than $25 billion
to shareholders through our dividend and share purchase programs,
including over $20 billion in
dividends and $5.2 billion in share
repurchases, representing more than $17 per share.
Dividend Declaration
The TELUS Board of
Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3891 per share on the issued and outstanding
Common Shares of the Company payable on July
2, 2024 to holders of record at the close of business on
June 10, 2024. This quarterly
dividend reflects an increase of 7.0 per cent from the $0.3636 per share dividend declared one year
earlier and consistent with our multi-year dividend growth program.
When a dividend payment date falls on a weekend or holiday, the
payment shall be made on the next succeeding day that is a business
day.
Community Highlights
Giving Back to Our
Communities
- Currently, we have 19 TELUS Community Boards operating in
Canada and around the world. Our
Community Boards entrust local leaders to make recommendations on
the allocation of grants in their communities. These grants support
registered charities that offer health, education or technology
programs to help youth thrive. Since 2005, our 19 TELUS Community
Boards and TELUS Friendly Future Foundation® (the
Foundation) have supported more than 33 million youth in-need in
Canada and around the world by
granting over $126 million in cash
donations to more than 10,000 initiatives.
- Working in close collaboration with our 13 Canadian TELUS
Community Boards, the Foundation provides grants to charities that
promote education, health and well-being for youth across the
country. Additionally, the Foundation provides bursaries for
post-secondary students who are facing financial barriers and are
committed to making a difference in their communities through the
TELUS Student Bursary program. During the first quarter of 2024,
the Foundation supported 265,000 youth by granting $3.2 million to more than 200 Canadian registered
charities. Since its inception in 2018, the Foundation has provided
$50 million in cash donations to our
communities, helping 15.4 million youth reach their full potential.
For more information about the TELUS Student Bursary program,
please visit friendlyfuture.com/bursary.
Empowering Canadians with
Connectivity
- Throughout the first quarter of 2024, we continued to leverage
our Connecting for Good® programs to support
marginalized individuals by enhancing their access to both
technology and healthcare, as well as our TELUS Wise®
program to improve digital literacy and online safety knowledge.
Since the launch of these programs, they have provided support for
over 1.2 million individuals.
- During the quarter, we welcomed more than 2,500 new households
to our Internet for Good® program. Since we launched the
program in 2016, we have connected over 57,600 households and
182,400 low-income family members and seniors, persons in need who
are living with disabilities, government-assisted refugees and
youth leaving foster care with low-cost, high-speed internet
service.
- Our Mobility for Good® program offers free or
low-cost smartphones and mobile phone rate plans to all youth aging
out of foster care and to low-income seniors receiving the
Guaranteed Income Supplement across Canada. During the quarter, we added over
1,400 youth and seniors, as well as Indigenous women at risk of or
surviving violence, government-assisted refugees and other
marginalized individuals to the program. Since we launched Mobility
for Good in 2017, the program has provided support for more than
53,700 people.
- Our Health for Good® mobile health clinics
facilitated 15,000 patient visits during the first three months of
2024. Since the program's inception, we have enabled 215,000
cumulative patient visits in 25 communities across Canada, bringing primary and mental healthcare
to individuals experiencing homelessness.
- During the quarter, our Tech for Good® program
provided access to a personalized one-on-one assessment,
recommendations and training on mobile devices, computers, laptops
and related assistive technology and/or access to discounted mobile
plans for over 850 Canadians living with disabilities, helping them
improve their independence and quality of life. Since the program's
inception in 2017, we have supported more than 9,600 individuals in
Canada who are living with
disabilities through the program and/or the TELUS Wireless
Accessibility Discount.
- During the quarter, more than 61,800 individuals in
Canada and around the world
participated in virtual TELUS Wise workshops and events to
improve digital literacy and online safety, bringing total
cumulative participation to over 740,000 individuals since the
program launched in 2013.
Investing in Social Impact
- During the quarter, TELUS Pollinator Fund for
Good® led an equity investment round in U.K.-based
Waymap, a technology company offering an accessibility-first,
highly accurate navigation app that works outdoors, indoors and
even deep underground. Since its inception in 2020, the Fund has
invested in over 30 socially innovative companies, with 40 per cent
led by women and 50 per cent led by Indigenous or racialized
founders.
Global Social Capitalism awards and recognition
- In January 2024, we were included
in the Corporate Knights 2024 Global 100 Most Sustainable
Corporations in the World; this was the 12th time we have been
included since inception of the recognition in 2005.
- In January 2024, we were
recognized as the highest-valued telecom brand in Canada. In Brand Finance's Global 500
2024 most valuable brands report, it valued our 2024 brand at
US$8.6 billion (C$11.7 billion), up 12.4 per cent year-over-year,
moving up 37 spots in its ranking and representing our highest
third-party brand valuation ever.
- We were recognized by Mediacorp Canada Inc. during the quarter
as one of Canada's Top Employers
for Young People (2024) in January and Canada's Best Diversity Employers (2024) in
March.
Access to Quarterly results information
Interested
investors, the media and others may review this quarterly earnings
news release, management's discussion and analysis, quarterly
results slides, audio and transcript of the investor webcast call,
supplementary financial information at telus.com/investors.
TELUS' first quarter 2024 conference call is scheduled for
Thursday, May 9, 2024 at
1:30 pm ET (10:30 am PT) and will feature a presentation
followed by a question and answer period with investment analysts.
Interested parties can access the webcast at telus.com/investors.
An audio recording will be available approximately 60 minutes after
the call until June 9, 2024 at
1-855-201-2300. Please quote conference access code 13252# and
playback access code 0114441#. An archive of the webcast will also
be available at telus.com/investors and a transcript will be posted
on the website within a few business days.
Caution regarding forward-looking statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements about
expected events and the financial and operating performance of
TELUS Corporation. The terms TELUS, the
Company, we, us and our refer to TELUS
Corporation and, where the context of the narrative permits or
requires, its subsidiaries.
Forward-looking statements include any statements that do not
refer to historical facts. They include, but are not limited to,
statements relating to our objectives and our strategies to achieve
those objectives, our expectations regarding trends in the
telecommunications industry (including demand for data and ongoing
subscriber base growth), and our financing plans (including our
multi-year dividend growth program). Forward-looking statements are
typically identified by the words assumption, goal, guidance,
objective, outlook, strategy, target and other similar expressions,
or future or conditional verbs such as aim,
anticipate, believe, could, expect,
intend, may, plan, predict,
seek, should, strive and will. These
statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions of
applicable securities laws in Canada and the
United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.
By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to
inherent risks and uncertainties and are based on assumptions,
including assumptions about future economic conditions and courses
of action. These assumptions may ultimately prove to have been
inaccurate and, as a result, our actual results or other events may
differ materially from expectations expressed in or implied by the
forward-looking statements.
The assumptions for our 2024 outlook, as described in Section
9 in our 2023 annual MD&A, remain the same, except for the
following:
- Our revised estimates for 2024 economic growth in Canada, B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are 1.1%, 0.8%, 1.9%, 0.8% and 0.6%,
respectively (compared to 0.6%, 0.4%, 1.1%, 0.4% and 0.4%,
respectively, as reported in our 2023 annual MD&A).
- Our revised estimates for 2024 annual inflation rates in B.C.,
Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are 2.5%, 2.6%, 2.6% and 2.6%,
respectively (compared to 2.4%, 2.4%, 2.4% and 2.5%, respectively,
as reported in our 2023 annual MD&A).
- Our revised estimates for 2024 annual unemployment rates in
Canada, B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are 6.3%, 6.0%, 6.5%, 7.0% and 5.4%,
respectively (compared to 6.4%, 6.1%, 6.3%, 6.7% and 5.5%,
respectively, as reported in our 2023 annual MD&A).
- Our revised estimates for 2024 annual rates of housing starts
on an unadjusted basis in Canada,
B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are 237,000 units, 46,000 units, 40,000
units, 86,000 units and 43,000 units, respectively (compared to
234,000 units, 42,000 units, 36,000 units, 79,000 units and 46,000
units, respectively, as reported in our 2023 annual MD&A).
- While Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
(ISED) had initially announced its intention to hold its millimetre
wave spectrum auction in 2024, it is possible that the auction may
be deferred until after 2024. We do not expect to be materially
impacted should the timing of the auction be after 2024.
The extent to which the economic growth
estimates affect us and the timing of their impact will depend upon
the actual experience of specific sectors of the Canadian
economy.
Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
performance or other events to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements made herein and in other TELUS filings
include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Regulatory matters. We operate in a number of highly
regulated industries and are therefore subject to a wide variety of
laws and regulations domestically and internationally. Policies and
practices of elected officials and regulatory decisions, reviews
and government activity may have strategic, operational and/or
financial implications (including on revenue and free cash
flow).
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- changes to our regulatory regime or the outcomes of
proceedings, cases or inquiries relating to its application,
including but not limited to those set out in Section 9.1
Communications industry regulatory developments and proceedings
in our first quarter 2024 MD&A;
- the potential for government to allow consolidation of
competitors in our industry or conversely for government to
intervene with the intent of further increasing competition, for
example, through mandated wholesale access, including to
fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) facilities;
- the potential for additional government intervention on
pricing, including internet overage charges, roaming fees and other
service charges;
- changes to federal or provincial legislation or its application
(including consumer protection legislation);
- the introduction of new privacy legislation by the federal,
provincial or territorial governments or in non-Canadian
jurisdictions where we do business that could materially expand or
alter the scope of consumer privacy rights, include significant
administrative monetary penalties and a private right of action,
and implement a new regulatory regime for the use of artificial
intelligence (AI) in the private sector, with significant
enforcement powers;
- potential threats to unitary federal regulatory authority over
communications in Canada;
- potential threats to the CRTC's ability to enforce competitive
safeguards such as the Standstill Rule and the Wholesale
Code, which aim to ensure the fair treatment by vertically
integrated firms of rival competitors operating as both
broadcasting distributors and programming services;
- amendments to the Competition Act and/or regulatory
action by the Competition Bureau or other regulatory agencies;
- spectrum allocation and compliance with licences, including our
compliance with licence conditions, changes to spectrum licence
fees, spectrum policy determinations such as restrictions on the
purchase, sale, subordination, use and transfer of spectrum
licences, the cost and availability of spectrum and timing of
spectrum allocation, and ongoing and future consultations and
decisions on spectrum licensing and policy frameworks, auctions and
allocation;
- draft legislation permitting the government to restrict the use
in telecommunications networks of equipment provided by specified
companies for the purpose of securing the Canadian
telecommunications system, which the government has initially
proposed to include Huawei and ZTE;
- draft legislation imposing new cybersecurity reporting
requirements; the request by the Minister of Innovation, Science
and Industry to telecommunications service providers, including
TELUS, to improve network resiliency, along with CRTC proceedings
to investigate network reliability and resiliency;
- restrictions on non-Canadian ownership and control of the
common shares of TELUS Corporation (Common Shares) and the ongoing
monitoring of, and compliance with, such restrictions;
- unanticipated changes to the current copyright regime, which
could impact obligations for internet service providers or
broadcasting undertakings;
- our ability to comply with complex and changing regulation of
the healthcare, virtual care and medical devices industries in the
jurisdictions in which we operate, including as an operator of
health clinics; and risks related to the quality of care and
provision of insured/uninsured services; and
- our ability to comply with, or facilitate our clients'
compliance with, numerous, complex and sometimes conflicting legal
regimes, both domestically and internationally.
- Competitive environment. Competitor expansion,
activity and intensity (pricing, including discounting, bundling),
as well as non-traditional competition, disruptive technology and
disintermediation, may alter the nature of the market and impact
our market share and financial results (including revenue and free
cash flow).
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- our ability to continue to retain customers by providing a
customer service experience that meets or exceeds expectations, a
range of relevant products and services and a reliable
state-of-the-art network;
- the intensity of competition, including aggressive promotional
offers and device financing strategies and the ability of industry
competitors to offer bundled and/or discounted services;
- competition across all services with communications companies
and virtual broadcast distribution undertakings and other
over-the-top (OTT) services, which, among other things, places
pressures on current and future average revenue per subscriber per
month (ARPU), cost of acquisition, cost of retention and churn
rates for all services;
- consolidation, mergers and acquisitions of industry competitors
(including the acquisition of Shaw by Rogers and associated assets
divested to Videotron), as well as any related regulatory
actions;
- regional operators leveraging wholesale access regulations to
enter the market;
- low-earth-orbit satellite internet services becoming available
in urban areas;
- our ability to obtain and offer content on a timely basis
across multiple devices on mobile and TV platforms at a reasonable
cost as content costs per unit continue to grow;
- vertical integration in the broadcasting industry resulting in
competitors owning broadcast content services, and timely and
effective enforcement of related regulatory safeguards;
- TI's ability to compete with professional services companies
that offer consulting services, information technology companies
with digital capabilities, and traditional contact centre and
business process outsourcing companies that are expanding their
capabilities to offer higher-margin and higher-growth digital
services including artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled products
and services;
- in our TELUS Health business, our ability to compete with other
providers of employee and family assistance programs, benefits
administration, electronic medical records and pharmacy management
products, claims adjudicators, systems integrators and health
service providers, including competitors with a vertically
integrated mix of health services delivery, IT solutions and
related services, global providers that could achieve expanded
Canadian footprints, and providers of virtual healthcare services,
preventative health services and personal emergency response
services; and
- in our TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods business, our
ability to compete with focused software and IoT competitors.
- Technology. Consumer adoption of alternative
technologies and changing customer expectations have the potential
to impact our revenue streams and customer churn rates.
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- reduced utilization and increased commoditization of
traditional fixed voice services (local and long distance)
resulting from impacts of OTT applications and mobile
substitution;
- a declining overall market for TV services, resulting in part
from content piracy and signal theft, a rise in OTT
direct-to-consumer video offerings and virtual multichannel video
programming distribution platforms;
- the increasing number of households with only mobile and/or
internet-based telephone services;
- potential decline in ARPU as a result of, among other factors,
substitution by messaging and OTT applications; substitution by
increasingly available Wi-Fi services;
- disruptive technologies, such as OTT
IP services, including software-defined networks in the
business market that may displace or cause us to reprice our
existing data services, and self-installed technology
solutions;
- any failure to innovate, maintain technological advantages or
respond effectively and in a timely manner to changes in
technology;
- high subscriber demand for data that challenges wireless
networks and spectrum capacity levels and may be accompanied by
increases in delivery cost;
- the roll-out, anticipated benefits and efficiencies, and
ongoing evolution of wireless broadband technologies and
systems;
- availability of resources and our ability to build out adequate
broadband capacity;
- our reliance on wireless network access agreements, which have
facilitated our deployment of mobile technologies;
- our choice of suppliers and those suppliers' ability to
maintain and service their product lines, which could affect the
success of upgrades to, and evolution of, technology that we
offer;
- supplier limitations and concentration and market power for
products such as network equipment, TELUS TV and mobile
handsets;
- our expected long-term need to acquire additional spectrum
capacity through future spectrum auctions and from third parties to
address increasing demand for data, and our ability to utilize
spectrum we acquire;
- deployment and operation of new fixed broadband network
technologies at a reasonable cost and the availability and success
of new products and services to be rolled out using such network
technologies;
- network reliability and change management; and
- our deployment of self-learning tools and automation, which may
change the way we interact with customers.
- Security and data protection. Our ability to detect
and identify potential threats and vulnerabilities depends on the
effectiveness of our security controls in protecting our
infrastructure and operating environment, and our timeliness in
responding to attacks and recovering business operations. A
successful attack may impede the operations of our network or lead
to the unauthorized interception, destruction, use or dissemination
of customer, team member or business information.
- Generative AI (GenAI). GenAI exposes us to numerous
risks including risks related to the responsible use of AI, data
privacy and cybersecurity, and the possibility that our use of AI
may produce inaccurate or inappropriate content or create negative
perceptions among companies and regulators that could affect demand
for our services.
- Climate and the Environment. Natural disasters,
pandemics, disruptive events and climate change may impact our
operations, customer satisfaction and team member
experience.
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- loss of employee work time as a result of illness or
injury;
- public concerns related to radio frequency emissions;
- climate-related risks (such as extreme weather events and other
natural hazards);
- waste and waste recycling;
- risks relating to fuel systems on our properties and the
environmental impact of our network including legacy network
equipment; and
- changing government and public expectations regarding
environmental matters and our responses.
Our goals to achieve carbon neutrality and
reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in our operations are
subject to our ability to identify, procure and implement solutions
to reduce energy consumption and adopt cleaner sources of energy,
our ability to identify and make suitable investments in renewable
energy, including in the form of virtual power purchase agreements,
and our ability to continue to realize significant absolute
reductions in energy use and the resulting GHG emissions in our
operations.
- Operational performance and business combination.
Investments and acquisitions present opportunities to expand our
operational scope, but may expose us to new risks. We may be
unsuccessful in gaining market traction/share and realizing
benefits, and integration efforts may divert resources from other
priorities.
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- our ability to identify suitable candidates for partnerships or
strategic transactions and our ability to complete these
transactions;
- our reliance on legacy systems and our ability to implement and
support new products and services and business operations in a
timely manner;
- our ability to manage the requirements of large enterprise
deals;
- our ability to implement effective change management for system
replacements and upgrades, process redesigns, cost efficiency
programs and business integrations (such as our ability in a timely
manner to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions into our
operations and culture, complete divestitures or establish
partnerships and realize expected strategic benefits, including
those following compliance with any regulatory orders);
- our ability to identify and manage new risks inherent in new
service offerings that we may provide, including as a result of
acquisitions, which could result in damage to our brand, our
business in the relevant area or as a whole, and additional
exposure to litigation or regulatory proceedings;
- our ability to effectively manage the growth of our
infrastructure and integrate new team members;
- our reliance on third-party cloud-based computing services to
deliver our IT services; and
- economic, political and other risks associated with doing
business globally (including war and other geopolitical
developments), as we have assets and operations located outside
Canada and the U.S.
- Customer service. Our service delivery directly
impacts customer experience, customer churn rates, and likelihood
to recommend outcomes. We may not be able to deliver the excellence
our customers expect or maintain our competitive advantage in this
area.
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- our ability to successfully implement cost reduction
initiatives (including efficiency and effectiveness programs,
business integrations, business product simplification, business
process automation and outsourcing, offshoring,
reorganizations, procurement initiatives, and real estate
rationalization).
- Our systems and processes. Systems and technology
innovation, maintenance and management may impact our IT systems
and network reliability, as well as our operating costs.
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- our ability to maintain customer service and operate our
network in the event of human error or human-caused threats, such
as cyberattacks and equipment failures that could cause various
degrees of network outages;
- technical disruptions and infrastructure breakdowns;
- delays and rising costs, including as a result of government
restrictions or trade actions; and
- the completeness and effectiveness of business continuity and
disaster recovery plans and responses.
- Our team. The rapidly evolving and highly competitive
nature of our markets and operating environment, along with the
globalization and evolving demographic profile of our workforce,
and the effectiveness of our internal training, development,
succession and health and well-being programs, may impact our
ability to attract, develop and retain team members with the skills
required to meet the changing needs of our customers and our
business. There may be greater physical and mental health
challenges faced by team members (and their families) as a result
of the pandemic, and the effect of other significant change
initiatives at the organization may result in the loss of key team
members through short-term and long-term disability.
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- recruitment, retention and appropriate training in a highly
competitive industry (including retention of team members leading
recently acquired businesses in emerging areas of our
business);
- the level of our employee engagement and impact on engagement
or other aspects of our business or any unresolved collective
agreements;
- our ability to maintain our unique culture and team member
engagement as we grow and implement organizational changes and cost
reduction initiatives;
- the risk that certain independent contractors in our business
could be classified as employees; and
- the physical and mental health of our team, which are critical
to engagement and productivity.
- Suppliers. We may be impacted by supply chain
disruptions and lack of resiliency in relation to global or local
events. Dependence on a single supplier for products, components,
service delivery or support may impact our ability to efficiently
meet constantly changing and rising customer expectations while
maintaining quality of service.
- Real estate matters. Real estate investments are
exposed to possible financing risks and uncertainty related to
future demand, occupancy and rental rates, especially following the
pandemic. Future real estate developments may not be completed on
budget or on time and may not obtain lease commitments as
planned.
- Financing, debt and dividends. Our ability to access
funding at optimal pricing may be impacted by general market
conditions and changing assessments in the fixed-income and capital
markets regarding our ability to generate sufficient future cash
flow to service our debt. Our current intention to pay dividends to
shareholders could constrain our ability to invest in our
operations to support future growth.
- Risks and uncertainties include:
- Our ability to use equity as consideration in business
acquisitions is impacted by stock market valuations of TELUS
Common Shares and TI subordinate voting shares.
Our capital expenditure levels and potential
outlays for spectrum licences in auctions or purchases from third
parties affect and are affected by: our broadband initiatives,
including connecting more homes and businesses directly to fibre;
our ongoing deployment of newer mobile technologies, including
wireless small cells that can improve coverage and capacity;
investments in network technology required to comply with laws and
regulations relating to the security of cyber systems, including
bans on the products and services of certain vendors; investments
in network resiliency and reliability; the allocation of resources
to acquisitions and future spectrum auctions held by Innovation,
Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), including the
millimetre wave spectrum auction, which may commence after 2024.
Our capital expenditure levels could be impacted if we do not
achieve our targeted operational and financial results or if there
are changes to our regulatory environment.
Lower than planned free cash flow could
constrain our ability to invest in operations, reduce leverage or
return capital to shareholders. This program may be affected by
factors such as the competitive environment, fluctuations in the
Canadian economy or the global economy, our earnings and free cash
flow (which may be affected by restructuring and other costs
resulting from initiatives such as post-acquisition integration and
cost efficiency programs), our levels of capital expenditures and
spectrum licence purchases, acquisitions, the management of our
capital structure, regulatory decisions and developments, and
business continuity events. Quarterly dividend decisions are
subject to assessment and determination by our Board of Directors
based on our financial position and outlook. There can be no
assurance that our dividend growth program will be maintained
through 2025 or renewed.
Factors that may affect TI's financial
performance are described in TI's public filings available on
SEDAR+ and EDGAR. TI may choose to publicize targets or provide
other guidance regarding its business and it may not achieve such
targets. Failure to meet these targets could affect TELUS' ability
to achieve targets for the organization as a whole and could result
in a decline in the trading price of the TI subordinate voting
shares or the TELUS Common Shares or both.
- Tax matters. Complexity of domestic and foreign tax
laws, regulations and reporting requirements applying to TELUS and
our international operating subsidiaries may impact financial
results, effective governance of tax considerations and compliance.
International acquisitions and expansion of operations heighten our
exposure to multiple forms of taxation.
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- interpretation of complex domestic and foreign tax laws by the
relevant tax authorities that may differ from our
interpretations;
- the timing and character of income and deductions, such as
depreciation and operating expenses;
- tax credits or other attributes;
- changes in tax laws, including tax rates;
- tax expenses that are materially different than anticipated,
including the taxability of income and deductibility of tax
attributes or retroactive application of new legislation;
- elimination of income tax deferrals; and
- changes to the interpretation of tax laws, including those
resulting from changes to applicable accounting standards or the
adoption of more aggressive auditing practices by tax authorities,
tax reassessments or adverse court decisions impacting the tax
payable by us.
- The economy. Changing global economic conditions,
including a potential recession and alternating expectations about
inflation, as well as our effectiveness in monitoring and revising
growth assumptions and contingency plans, may impact the
achievement of our corporate objectives, our financial results
(including free cash flow), and our defined benefit pension
plans.
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- the state of the economy in Canada, which may be influenced by economic
and other developments outside of Canada, including potential outcomes of future
policies and actions of foreign governments;
- expectations regarding future interest rates;
- inflation;
- unemployment levels;
- immigration levels;
- effects of volatility in oil prices;
- effects of low business spending (such as reducing investments
and cost structure);
- pension investment returns and factors affecting pension
benefit obligations, funding and solvency discount rates;
- fluctuations in exchange rates of the currencies of various
countries in which we operate;
- sovereign credit ratings and effects on the cost of
borrowing;
- the impact of tariffs on trade between Canada and the
United States; and
- global implications of the dynamics of trade relationships
among major world economies.
- Litigation and legal matters. Complexity of, and
compliance with, laws, regulations, commitments and expectations
may have a financial and reputational impact.
Risks and uncertainties include:
-
- our ability to successfully respond to investigations and
regulatory proceedings;
- our ability to defend against existing and potential claims and
lawsuits (including intellectual property infringement claims and
class actions based on consumer claims, data, privacy or security
breaches and secondary market liability), or our ability to
negotiate and exercise indemnity rights or other protections in
respect of such claims and lawsuits; and
- the complexity of legal compliance in domestic and foreign
jurisdictions, including compliance with competition, anti-bribery
and foreign corrupt practices laws.
These risks and assumptions underlying our forward-looking
statements are described in additional detail in Section 9
General trends, outlook and assumptions, and regulatory
developments and proceedings and Section 10 Risks and risk
management in our 2023 annual MD&A. Those descriptions are
incorporated by reference in this cautionary statement but are not
intended to be a complete list of the risks that could affect the
Company or of our assumptions.
Many of these risks and uncertainties are beyond our control or
outside of our current expectations or knowledge. Additional risks
and uncertainties that are not currently known to us or that we
currently deem to be immaterial may also have a material adverse
effect on our financial position, financial performance, cash
flows, business or reputation. Except as otherwise indicated in
this document, the forward-looking statements made herein do not
reflect the potential impact of any non-recurring or special items
or any mergers, acquisitions, dispositions or other business
combinations or transactions that may be announced or that may
occur after the date of this document.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this
document describe our expectations, and are based on our
assumptions, as at the date of this document and are subject to
change after this date. Except as required by law, we disclaim any
intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements.
This cautionary statement qualifies all of the forward-looking
statements in this document.
Non-GAAP and other specified financial measures
We have issued guidance on and report certain non-GAAP measures
that are used to evaluate the performance of TELUS, as well as to
determine compliance with debt covenants and to manage our capital
structure. As non-GAAP measures generally do not have a
standardized meaning, they may not be comparable to similar
measures presented by other issuers. For certain financial metrics,
there are definitional differences between TELUS and TELUS
International reporting. These differences largely arise from TELUS
International adopting definitions consistent with practice in its
industry. Securities regulations require such measures to be
clearly defined, qualified and reconciled with their nearest GAAP
measure. Certain of the metrics do not have generally accepted
industry definitions.
Adjusted Net income and adjusted basic earnings per share
(EPS): These are non-GAAP measures that do not have any
standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS-IASB and are therefore
unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other
issuers. Adjusted Net income excludes the effects of restructuring
and other costs, income tax-related adjustments, other equity
(income) losses related to real estate joint ventures, long-term
debt prepayment premium, unrealized changes in virtual power
purchase agreements forward element, and other adjustments
(identified in the following tables). Adjusted basic EPS is
calculated as adjusted Net income divided by the basic
weighted-average number of Common Shares outstanding. These
measures are used to evaluate performance at a consolidated level
and exclude items that, in management's view, may obscure
underlying trends in business performance or items of an unusual
nature that do not reflect our ongoing operations. They should not
be considered alternatives to Net income and basic EPS in measuring
TELUS' performance.
Reconciliation of adjusted Net income
|
Three months ended
March 31
|
C$ and
in millions
|
2024
|
2023
|
Net income
attributable to Common Shares
|
127
|
217
|
Add (deduct) amounts of
net of amount attributable to non-controlling interests:
|
|
|
Restructuring and
other costs
|
213
|
149
|
Tax effect of
restructuring and other costs
|
(48)
|
(32)
|
Real estate
rationalization-related restructuring impairments
|
68
|
52
|
Tax effect of real
estate rationalization-related restructuring impairments
|
(18)
|
(14)
|
Income tax-related
adjustments
|
—
|
1
|
Other equity income
related to real estate joint ventures
|
—
|
(1)
|
Unrealized changes in
virtual power purchase agreements forward element
|
66
|
19
|
Tax effect of
unrealized changes in virtual power purchase agreements
forward element
|
(18)
|
(5)
|
Adjusted Net
income
|
390
|
386
|
Reconciliation of adjusted basic EPS
|
Three months ended
March 31
|
C$
|
2024
|
2023
|
Basic
EPS
|
0.09
|
0.15
|
Add (deduct) amounts of
net of amount attributable to non-controlling interests:
|
|
|
Restructuring and
other costs, per share
|
0.14
|
0.10
|
Tax effect of
restructuring and other costs, per share
|
(0.03)
|
(0.02)
|
Real estate
rationalization-related restructuring impairments, per
share
|
0.04
|
0.04
|
Tax effect of real
estate rationalization-related restructuring impairments, per
share
|
(0.01)
|
(0.01)
|
Unrealized changes in
virtual power purchase agreements forward element,
per share
|
0.04
|
0.01
|
Tax effect of
unrealized changes in virtual power purchase agreements
forward element, per share
|
(0.01)
|
—
|
Adjusted basic
EPS
|
0.26
|
0.27
|
EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes,
depreciation and amortization): We have issued guidance on and
report EBITDA because it is a key measure used to evaluate
performance at a consolidated level. EBITDA is commonly reported
and widely used by investors and lending institutions as an
indicator of a company's operating performance and ability to incur
and service debt, and as a valuation metric. EBITDA should not be
considered as an alternative to Net income in measuring TELUS'
performance, nor should it be used as a measure of cash flow.
EBITDA as calculated by TELUS is equivalent to Operating revenues
and other income less the total of Goods and services purchased
expense and Employee benefits expense.
We also calculate Adjusted EBITDA to exclude items of an
unusual nature that do not reflect our ongoing operations and
should not, in our opinion, be considered in a long-term valuation
metric or should not be included in an assessment of our ability to
service or incur debt.
EBITDA and Adjusted
EBITDA reconciliations
|
|
TTech
|
DLCX
|
Eliminations3
|
Total
|
Three-month periods
ended
March 31 (C$ millions)
|
2024
|
2023
|
2024
|
2023
|
2024
|
2023
|
2024
|
2023
|
Net
income
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
140
|
224
|
Financing
costs
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
394
|
320
|
Income taxes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
41
|
55
|
EBIT
|
494
|
536
|
91
|
63
|
(10)
|
—
|
575
|
599
|
Depreciation
|
644
|
597
|
46
|
43
|
—
|
|
690
|
640
|
Amortization of
intangible
assets
|
313
|
320
|
60
|
62
|
—
|
—
|
373
|
382
|
EBITDA1,2
|
1,451
|
1,453
|
197
|
168
|
(10)
|
—
|
1,638
|
1,621
|
Add restructuring and
other
costs included in EBITDA
|
208
|
141
|
10
|
18
|
—
|
—
|
218
|
159
|
EBITDA –
excluding
restructuring and other
costs
|
1,659
|
1,594
|
207
|
186
|
(10)
|
—
|
1,856
|
1,780
|
Other equity income
related to
real estate joint ventures
|
—
|
(1)
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
(1)
|
Adjusted EBITDA1,2
|
1,659
|
1,593
|
207
|
186
|
(10)
|
—
|
1,856
|
1,779
|
Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures is calculated
for our reportable segments, as it represents a simple cash flow
view that may be more comparable to other issuers.
Adjusted EBITDA less
capital expenditures reconciliations
|
|
TTech
|
DLCX
|
Eliminations3
|
Total
|
Three-months
ended
March 31 (C$
millions)
|
2024
|
2023
|
2024
|
2023
|
2024
|
2023
|
2024
|
2023
|
Adjusted
EBITDA1,2
|
1,659
|
1,593
|
207
|
186
|
(10)
|
—
|
1,856
|
1,779
|
Capital
expenditures
|
(707)
|
(693)
|
(26)
|
(20)
|
8
|
—
|
(725)
|
(713)
|
Adjusted EBITDA
less
capital expenditures1
|
952
|
900
|
181
|
166
|
(2)
|
—
|
1,131
|
1,066
|
(1)
|
See Section 11.1
Non-GAAP and other specified financial measures in our first
quarter 2024 MD&A for additional details.
|
(2)
|
For certain financial
metrics, there are definitional differences between TELUS and TELUS
International reporting. These differences largely arise from TELUS
International adopting definitions consistent with practice in its
industry.
|
(3)
|
See Intersegment
revenues in Section 5.5 of our first quarter 2024
MD&A for additional details.
|
Free cash flow: We report this measure as a supplementary
indicator of our operating performance, and there is no generally
accepted industry definition of free cash flow. It should not be
considered as an alternative to the measures in the condensed
interim consolidated statements of cash flows. Free cash flow
excludes certain working capital changes (such as trade receivables
and trade payables), proceeds from divested assets and other
sources and uses of cash, as found in the condensed interim
consolidated statements of cash flows. It provides an indication of
how much cash generated by operations is available after capital
expenditures that may be used to, among other things, pay
dividends, repay debt, purchase shares or make other investments.
We exclude impacts of accounting standards that do not impact cash,
such as IFRS 15 and IFRS 16. Free cash flow may be supplemented
from time to time by proceeds from divested assets or financing
activities.
Free cash flow
calculation
|
|
|
|
Three months
ended
March 31
|
C$ and
in millions
|
2024
|
2023
|
EBITDA
|
1,638
|
1,621
|
Restructuring and other
costs, net of disbursements
|
(11)
|
85
|
Effects of contract
asset, acquisition and fulfilment (IFRS 15 impact) and
TELUS Easy Payment device financing
|
34
|
32
|
Effects of lease
principal (IFRS 16 impact)
|
(178)
|
(130)
|
Items from the
condensed interim statements of cash flows:
|
|
|
Share-based
compensation, net
|
27
|
43
|
Net employee defined
benefit plans expense
|
17
|
15
|
Employer contributions
to employee defined benefit plans
|
(8)
|
(9)
|
Loss from equity
accounted investments and other
|
5
|
—
|
Interest
paid
|
(334)
|
(286)
|
Interest
received
|
11
|
4
|
Capital
expenditures1
|
(725)
|
(713)
|
Free cash flow before
income taxes
|
476
|
662
|
Income taxes paid, net
of refunds
|
(80)
|
(127)
|
Free cash
flow
|
396
|
535
|
Free cash flow
reconciliation with Cash provided by operating
activities
|
|
|
|
Three months
ended
March 31
|
C$ and
in millions
|
2024
|
2023
|
Free cash
flow
|
396
|
535
|
Add
(deduct):
|
|
|
Capital
expenditures1
|
725
|
713
|
Effect of lease
principal
|
178
|
130
|
Net change in non-cash
operating working capital not included in receding
line items and other individually immaterial items included in Net
income
neither providing nor using cash
|
(349)
|
(617)
|
Cash provided by
operating activities
|
950
|
761
|
(1)
|
Refer to Note 31
of the interim consolidated financial statements for further
information.
|
Mobile phone average revenue per subscriber per month
(ARPU) is calculated as network revenue derived from monthly
service plan, roaming and usage charges; divided by the average
number of mobile phone subscribers on the network during the
period, and is expressed as a rate per month.
Appendix
Operating revenues and other income – TTech segment
C$ millions, except
footnotes and unless noted otherwise
|
Three months ended
March 31
|
Per cent
|
(unaudited)
|
2024
|
2023
|
change
|
Mobile network
revenue
|
1,746
|
1,697
|
2.9
|
Mobile equipment and
other service revenues
|
481
|
517
|
(7.0)
|
Fixed data
services(1)
|
1,159
|
1,128
|
2.7
|
Fixed voice
services
|
179
|
192
|
(6.8)
|
Fixed equipment and
other service revenues
|
117
|
128
|
(8.6)
|
Health
services
|
420
|
423
|
(0.7)
|
Agriculture and
consumer goods services
|
82
|
84
|
(2.4)
|
Operating revenues
(arising from contracts with customers)
|
4,184
|
4,169
|
0.4
|
Other income
|
27
|
39
|
(30.8)
|
External Operating
revenues and other income
|
4,211
|
4,208
|
0.1
|
Intersegment
revenues
|
3
|
4
|
(25.0)
|
TTech Operating
revenues and other income
|
4,214
|
4,212
|
0.0
|
(1)
|
Excludes health
services and agriculture and consumer goods services.
|
Operating revenues and other income – DLCX segment
C$ millions, except
footnotes and unless noted otherwise
|
Three months ended
March 31
|
Per cent
|
(unaudited)
|
2024
|
2023
|
change
|
Operating revenues
(arising from contracts with customers)
|
682
|
756
|
(9.8)
|
Other income
|
39
|
—
|
n/m
|
External Operating
revenues and other income
|
721
|
756
|
(4.6)
|
Intersegment
revenues
|
203
|
172
|
18.0
|
DLCX Operating
revenues and other income
|
924
|
928
|
(0.4)
|
Notations used in the table above: n/m – not meaningful.
|
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a dynamic, world-leading
communications technology company with more than $20 billion in annual revenue and over 19 million
customer connections spanning wireless, data, IP, voice,
television, entertainment, video, and security. Our social purpose
is to leverage our global-leading technology and compassion to
drive social change and enable remarkable human outcomes. Our
longstanding commitment to putting our customers first fuels every
aspect of our business, making us a distinct leader in customer
service excellence and loyalty. The numerous, sustained accolades
TELUS has earned over the years from independent, industry-leading
network insight firms showcase the strength and speed of TELUS'
global-leading networks, reinforcing our commitment to provide
Canadians with access to superior technology that connects us to
the people, resources and information that make our lives
better.
Operating in 32 countries around the world, TELUS International
(TSX and NYSE: TIXT) is a leading digital customer experience
innovator that designs, builds, and delivers next-generation
solutions, including AI and content moderation, for global and
disruptive brands across strategic industry verticals, including
tech and games, communications and media, eCommerce and fintech,
banking, financial services and insurance, healthcare, and
others.
TELUS Health is a global healthcare leader, which provides
employee and family primary and preventive healthcare and wellbeing
solutions. Our TELUS team, along with our 100,000 health
professionals, are leveraging the combination of TELUS' strong
digital and data analytics capabilities with our unsurpassed client
service to dramatically improve remedial, preventive and mental
health outcomes covering nearly 72 million lives, and growing,
around the world. As the largest provider of digital solutions and
digital insights of its kind, TELUS Agriculture & Consumer
Goods enables efficient and sustainable production from seed to
store, helping improve the safety and quality of food and other
goods in a way that is traceable to end consumers.
Driven by our determination and vision to connect all citizens
for good, our deeply meaningful and enduring philosophy to give
where we live has inspired TELUS and our team to contribute
$1.7 billion, including 2.2 million
days of service since 2000. This unprecedented generosity and
unparalleled volunteerism have made TELUS the most giving company
in the world. Together, let's make the future friendly.
For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com, follow
us at @TELUSNews on X and @Darren_Entwistle on Instagram.
Investor Relations
Robert
Mitchell
(647) 837-1606
ir@telus.com
Media Relations
Steve
Beisswanger
(514) 865-2787
Steve.Beisswanger@telus.com
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SOURCE TELUS Corporation