The corporate mentioned it’s going to now pay a quarterly dividend of 43.75 cents per share, down from 99.75 cents per share. The choice cuts BCE’s annualized dividend to $1.75 per frequent share from $3.99.

“As we debated this, deliberated on the board, actually having taken and having listened to the views of traders over the previous few months, we determined that resetting the dividend … was essentially the most accountable technique to handle our capital allocation technique,” Bibic mentioned in an interview.

“Primarily the brand new dividend degree permits us to de-lever and make investments for development.”

Impact of inflation affecting Canadians’ cell procuring habits

Inflation and the prospect of a worldwide recession are weighing on shopper confidence, the corporate mentioned, whereas reductions in BCE’s share value have resulted in larger capital prices. BCE’s board additionally thought of components akin to an “unsupportive regulatory surroundings given current CRTC choices” and a slowdown in immigration to Canada.

Bibic mentioned there have been “important modifications” within the financial and working environments because the fall of 2024 that the corporate wants to handle.

Whereas final quarter started with wi-fi costs stabilizing, the latter half of that interval noticed extra fluctuations. That, together with the “total macro surroundings” affected Bell’s capability to spice up subscriptions, Bibic mentioned.

BCE had a internet lack of 9,598 postpaid cell phone subscribers in its first quarter, in contrast with 45,247 internet activations throughout the identical interval a yr earlier.

The corporate cited a “much less energetic market,” slowing inhabitants development because of federal immigration insurance policies, and its personal deal with “higher-value subscriber loadings.” Bibic mentioned there have been 25,000 internet new clients on the primary Bell model within the quarter, which was down 9,000 year-over-year.