Record second quarter Fixed customer net additions of 70,000, including 33,000 internet customer additions, driven by our leading TELUS PureFibre network, premier portfolio of bundled services across Mobile and Home, and leading household client loyalty
TTech Adjusted EBITDA growth of 5.1 per cent and strong margin expansion of 150 basis points to 38.2 per cent reflecting a lower cost to serve and focus on driving higher margin per user and continued double digit momentum in health services EBITDA contribution growth
Net income and earnings per share higher by 13 per cent and 7.1 per cent, respectively and on an adjusted basis increased by 34 and 32 per cent; Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA higher by 5.6 per cent and margin increased 170 basis points to 36.1 per cent; Consolidated free cash flow increased by 71 per cent
Full year 2024 TTech operating revenues and Adjusted EBITDA trending to lower end of their respective original target growth ranges; Consolidated free cash flow being updated to approximately $2.1 billion fully reflecting the flow through from TELUS Digital Experience's revised EBITDA outlook; Consolidated capital expenditures of approximately $2.6 billion remains unchanged
VANCOUVER, BC , Aug. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - TELUS Corporation today released its unaudited results for the second quarter of 2024. Consolidated operating revenues and other income increased by 0.6 per cent over the same period a year ago to $5.0 billion . This growth was driven by higher service revenue in our TELUS technology solutions (TTech) segment offset by lower service revenue in our TELUS digital experience segment (TELUS Digital), formerly known as Digitally-led customer experiences – TELUS International. Within TTech, higher revenue from mobile network, residential internet and security services, driven largely by subscriber growth, higher organic growth across multiple lines of business in health services and higher agriculture and consumer goods service revenues related to business acquisitions and improving organic growth across certain lines of business in agriculture services was partially offset by declines in TV and fixed legacy voice services revenues due to technological substitution. The decline in TELUS Digital operating revenues were from lower external revenues reflecting macroeconomic conditions. See Second Quarter 2024 Operating Highlights within this news release for a discussion on TTech and TELUS digital experience results.
"In the second quarter, our team built upon our track record of execution excellence to drive industry-leading customer growth and strong financial results, leveraging our premier portfolio of assets, coupled with a relentless pursuit to drive cost efficiency and effectiveness," said Darren Entwistle , President and CEO. "Our results demonstrate how we are delivering sustainable profitable growth, underpinned by our consistent strategic focus on margin-accretive customer expansion, globally leading broadband networks and customer-centric culture. This enabled a record second quarter, with total customer net additions of 332,000, up 13 per cent, year-over-year, including healthy mobile phone net additions of 101,000, and record second quarter customer additions for both connected devices of 161,000 and total fixed net additions of 70,000. Our team's passion for delivering customer service excellence once again contributed to leading loyalty across our key product lines. Notably, postpaid mobile phone churn was 0.89 per cent, alongside PureFibre churn circa one per cent, further showcasing the consistent potency of our unmatched bundled product offerings across Mobile and Home, over our industry-best PureFibre and wireless broadband networks."
"Today, TELUS International, which will formally complete its rebranding to TELUS Digital Experience (TELUS Digital) in the third quarter, reported its second quarter results that reflect a macroeconomic and operating environment that remains challenged. Notwithstanding the persistent headwinds, TELUS Digital continues to generate consistently strong cash flows that are being leveraged to reinvest into the business to support the reacceleration of top line growth along with an ongoing focus on surfacing cost efficiency initiatives to optimize its operations. As our TELUS Digital team advances opportunities with existing and prospective clients, their comprehensive and growing suite of AI solutions is capturing customer demand as demonstrated by the double-digit revenue growth within its AI Data Solutions line of service in the first half of this year. Furthermore, the strength of the generative AI fueled solutions, and tools created for TELUS across all areas of our business, fortify their go-to-market efforts with other clients. While we are encouraged by these positive indicators of longer-term growth opportunities, the challenged near-term environment impacts the expected levels of revenue and profit for 2024, leading TELUS Digital to revise its annual outlook for the full year. Our confidence in TELUS Digital remains steadfast as the business continues its evolution to a technology-centric model with significant opportunities in respect of digital transformation. This includes driving innovative generative AI solutions for our customers to elevate leading and differentiated digital client experiences in the market, creating a positive tailwind for TELUS Digital's medium- and long-term growth."
"Within TELUS Health, we are pleased with the solid performance, returning to positive top line growth of four per cent as investments in our products, sales and distribution channels deliver strong momentum across multiple lines of service. This includes MyCare, pharmacy management systems, virtual pharmacy, retirement benefits solutions, health benefits management, our precision health, and our employee assistance programmes. Our team also delivered over 33 per cent adjusted EBITDA contribution growth. This was supported by the aforementioned revenue growth along with the achievement of $297 million in combined annualized synergies since the acquisition of LifeWorks in 2022, including $248 million in cost synergies along with $49 million in cross selling, as we work towards our overall objective of $427 million by the end of 2025. Furthermore, we drove a 10 per cent year-over-year increase in our global lives covered to more than 75 million. Similarly, within TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, we are yielding positive outcomes as we strengthen our market position, delivering strong revenue growth of more than 15 per cent reflecting inorganic growth from tuck-in acquisitions, and improving organic revenue performance in our consumer goods, precision agronomy, and animal agriculture businesses. This comes on the heels of continuing strong sales performance where we have more than doubled our year-to-date sales bookings versus this time last year. Our commitment to amplifying the substantial growth potential of these distinctive global businesses is underscored by harnessing the expertise, experience and high-performance culture and talent of our entire team. This includes capitalizing on the significant cross-selling opportunities across all of our businesses, showcasing the collective talent and effectiveness of our team in propelling our success."
"Our TELUS team remains deeply committed to making the world a better place," added Darren. "This is reflected in the incredible work of our TELUS Community Boards, which leverage the expertise of local leaders to ensure charitable funding is directed to where it will have the most impact, as well as the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, with a mission to help youth realize their full potential. Impressively, since 2005, our 19 TELUS Community Boards around the world and the Foundation have contributed close to $130 million in cash donations in support of 10,300 initiatives, positively impacting the lives of 33.5 million youth, globally."
Doug French , Executive Vice-president and CFO said, "Our strong performance during the second quarter is a testament to our consistent track record of operational execution excellence. Despite facing a challenging competitive and macroeconomic environment, we are executing against our strategic objectives, including our significant cost efficiency programs. In the quarter, this supported strong consolidated EBITDA growth of 5.6 per cent, alongside margin expansion of 170 basis points to 36.1 per cent. Our unrelenting focus on efficiency and effectiveness is further demonstrated by surpassing our full year assumption on restructuring investments in the first half of the year as we look to maximize the in-year financial benefit. For 2024, we now anticipate restructuring expense to be $400 million as we further optimize our cost structure to drive EBITDA expansion, margin accretion and accelerated cash flow growth."
"As we enter the back half of the year, our financial position remains strong. At the end of the second quarter, we had approximately $2.5 billion of available liquidity, our average cost of long-term debt was 4.42 per cent, our average term to maturity of long-term debt is 11 years and our net debt to EBITDA ratio was 3.85 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 through continued EBITDA growth, declining capital intensity toward the 10 per cent level and ongoing free cash flow expansion."
"Looking ahead, in light of the highly competitive environment in mobility and fixed, we are trending to the lower end of our 2024 growth target for TTech operating revenues. Despite these industry pressures, we remain confident in our commitment to driving strong, sustainable and margin accretive growth. This will be supported by maintaining our keen focus on driving a lower cost to serve as we work towards achieving the lower end of our annual TTech Adjusted EBITDA growth target. Consolidated free cash flow is being updated to approximately $2.1 billion , fully reflecting the flow through from TELUS Digital's lower EBITDA outlook. Our confidence in the strength and resilience of our business remains unwavering, and we are excited about the future prospects that lie ahead for our organization. This 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 long-standing and leading dividend growth program," concluded Doug.
As compared to the same period a year ago, net income in the quarter of $221 million was up 13 per cent and Basic earnings per share (EPS) of $0.15 increased by 7.1 per cent. These increases were driven by higher Adjusted EBITDA as detailed below, partially offset by higher financing costs, driven by increased long-term debt and higher interest rates on both floating-rate and recent fixed-rate issuances. These costs were mainly associated with investments in spectrum and fiber technology, business acquisitions, and higher restructuring costs related to efficiency programs, including workforce reductions and real estate rationalization.
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 $366 million increased by 34 per cent over the same period last year, while adjusted basic EPS of $0.25 was up 32 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 5.5 per cent to approximately $1.7 billion and Adjusted EBITDA increased by 5.6 per cent to approximately $1.8 billion . The growth in Adjusted EBITDA reflects: (i) broad-based cost reduction efforts, synergies achieved between LifeWorks ® and our legacy health business, and an increase in TTech outsourcing to TELUS Digital, as well as savings in marketing, discretionary and administrative costs; (ii) mobile network, residential internet and security subscriber growth; (iii) higher gains in other income; and (iv) growth in health services revenue. These factors were partly offset by: (i) lower mobile phone ARPU; (ii) merit-based compensation increases; (iii) lower operational growth in TELUS Digital excluding other income; (iv) higher network operations costs; (v) declining TV and fixed legacy voice margins; (vi) lower mobile equipment margins; (vii) higher bad debt expense; and (viii) higher costs related to the scaling of our digital capabilities.
In the second quarter, we added 332,000 net customer additions, up 39,000 over the same period last year, and inclusive of 101,000 mobile phones and 161,000 connected devices, in addition to 33,000 internet, 25,000 TV and 20,000 security customer connections. This was partly offset by residential voice losses of 8,000. Our total TTech subscriber base of 19.5 million is up 6.9 per cent over the last twelve months, reflecting a 4.5 per cent increase in our mobile phones subscriber base to over 9.9 million and a 24 per cent increase in our connected devices subscriber base to approximately 3.4 million. Additionally, our internet connections grew by 5.3 per cent over the last twelve months to approximately 2.7 million customer connections, our TV customer base stands at more than 1.3 million customer connections, and our security subscriber base increased by 8.2 per cent to approximately 1.1 million customer connections. Lastly, our residential voice subscriber base declined slightly by 2.9 per cent to more than 1.0 million.
In health services, as of the end of the second quarter of 2024, virtual care members were 6.3 million and healthcare lives covered were 75.1 million, up 19 per cent and 10 per cent over the last twelve months, respectively. Digital health transactions in the second quarter of 2024 were 163.3 million, up 6.8 per cent over the second quarter of 2023.
Cash provided by operating activities of $1.4 billion increased by 24 per cent in the second quarter of 2024 and free cash flow of $478 million increased by 71 per cent compared to the same period a year ago, reflecting higher EBITDA, lower capital expenditures and lower income taxes paid. These factors were partly offset by increased restructuring disbursements and increased interest 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 $691 million , including $23 million for real estate development, decreased by $116 million or 14 per cent in the second quarter of 2024. TTech operations drove $121 million of the decrease in the second quarter of 2024, primarily driven by the planned slowdown of our fibre and wireless network builds and systems development. By June 30, 2024 , our 5G network covered approximately 32.0 million Canadians, representing over 86 per cent of the population. TTech real estate development capital expenditures increased by $11 million in the second quarter of 2024 due to an increase in capital investment to support construction of multi-year development projects, including TELUS Ocean TM , TELUS Living residential buildings and other commercial buildings in British Columbia . TELUS Digital capital expenditures increased by $6 million in the second quarter of 2024, primarily driven by increased software investment in our Managed Digital Solutions business and AI Data Solutions (software and application development), as well as continued expansion in Africa .
Consolidated Financial Highlights
C$ millions, except footnotes and unless noted otherwise
Three months ended
June 30