Telus profits rise on wireless gains

Telus Corp. says its profits rose 45.5 per cent in the fourth quarter on stronger revenues in its wireless division.

The telecom company reported profits increased to $227 million from $156 million a year ago.

Earnings per share came in at 70 cents, falling short of average analyst expectations of 72 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters. A year ago the company earned 49 cents per share.

Operating revenue improved to $2.55 billion from $2.44 billion, above expectations of $2.51 billion. About half of those revenues came from its wireless business, which came in at $1.3 billion, up about $110 million. Wireline revenues were steady at $1.25 billion.

"These results demonstrate the success of Telus' strategy to make significant investments over recent years in advanced wireline and wireless broadband infrastructure," president and CEO Darren Entwistle said in a release.

"These investments have underpinned our strong competitiveness and increasing growth in wireless and wireline data services."

Telus is one of the few major telecom companies that has said it won't pursue a strategy of buying up media properties to give it content for its online and mobile phone platforms. The company recently announced that it would unlock its customers' mobile phones for a $50 fee to allow them to run on other carriers' networks.

Telus also said it has upgraded its network to give mobile laptop users a faster Internet speed.