Telus (TSX: T) CEO and president Darren Entwistle marked his last day serving in those positions on a high note.
The company reported $377 million profit in the first quarter of 2014 — up from $362 million during the same period last year — at its May 8 annual general meeting in Vancouver.
Telus chief corporate officer Josh Blair told Business In Vancouver Entwistle took the time to give a heartfelt thank-you to the team he’s led the past 14 years.
“It was a very celebratory and I would say also wonderfully reflective day at our AGM,” he said.
Entwistle is transitioning to the role of executive chairman — a position that did not previously exist at the company — as chief commercial officer Joe Natale takes over as CEO and president.
In a rather uncommon arrangement, Natale will continue to be based out of Toronto while the company remains headquartered in Vancouver.
At $2.9 billion, revenue was up 5% compared to the same quarter last year.
Blair said growth in data usage on the wireless side of the business is behind much of the good news for the company.
“We’re in a unique position globally where both our wireless division and our wireline division are in significant growth modes,” Blair said.
Telus added 48,000 wireless costumers, 27,000 TV subscribers and 21,000 high-speed Internet customers in 2014’s first quarter.
The company intends to attract more wireless business by deploying a 700 MHz spectrum by the fall.
The spectrum, which was previously occupied by analogue TV broadcasts before the switch to digital broadcasts in 2011, allows for stronger signals that can cut through dead zones and offer high-quality streaming video.
Telus paid the federal government $1.14 billion in February for access to the spectrum.
In April, Rogers became the first company to unveil the spectrum to wireless customers in Vancouver.
