Revenue is up, profit is up, but Telus’ (TSX:T) workforce is shrinking.
The telecom giant is cutting 1,500 full-time jobs as it aims to save $125 million in the fourth quarter, according to financial results released Thursday (November 5).
The Vancouver-based company did not specify what jobs would be cut but CEO Darren Entwistle said a “notable number” would be through early retirements and voluntary exits.
“We had a soft quarter on wireless by Telus’ definition,” he told investors in a conference call.
The company added 69,000 post-paid wireless subscribers last quarter compared with the 107,000 that were added a year ago.
Entwistle said “economic softness” on both the national front and in Alberta impacted the company’s performance in Q3. He said the company would look to save additional money by decommissioning some of its older wireless technology.
Revenue grew 4.2% in Q3 to $3.16 billion compared with the same period a year ago.
Net income was also up in Q3, rising 2.8% to $365 million compared with a year earlier. While it’s a small increase, profit in Q2 fell 10.5% to $341 million as Telus closed down its Black’s Photography retail stores.
The company’s efforts to cut costs come after it announced in early October it would spend $1 billion building its ultra-fast, gigabit-enabled Internet network throughout Vancouver over the next five years. A similar $1-billion plan was announced for Edmonton in June.
The third quarter marks both the opening of Telus’ new $750-million downtown Vancouver headquarters as well as Entwistle’s return to the helm after stepping away from the job in May 2014 to serve as the company’s executive chairman.
His replacement Joe Natale decided earlier this year he would not follow through with plans for him to move from Toronto to the company’s headquarters in Vancouver.
Entwistle told Business in Vancouver at the opening of the new headquarters that he couldn’t provide a definitive answer regarding the length of his second tenure as CEO but the general idea was to stick around for five years.
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