BCE, Inc. 2026 Q2 Earnings Call

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call. With me here today are Mirko Bibic, BCE's President and CEO, and our CFO, Curtis Millen. You can find all our Q2 disclosure documents on the investor relations page of the bce.ca website, which we posted earlier this morning. Before we begin, I'd like to draw your attention to our safe harbor statement on Slide two, reminding you that today's slide presentation and remarks made during the call will include forward-looking information and therefore are subject to risks and uncertainties. Results could differ materially. We disclaim any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by law. Please refer to our publicly filed documents for more details on assumptions and risks. With that out of the way, I'll turn the call over to Mirko.

Thank you, Chris, and good morning to all. Our Q2 results show continued execution against the strategy we laid out at Investor Day last year. Consolidated revenue increased 1.5%, adjusted EBITDA grew 1%, and we generated more than CAD 1 billion of free cash flow in the quarter. We also reduced our net debt leverage ratio to approximately 3.7 times, while continuing to invest in the growth platforms that will shape BCE's long-term profile. The quarter also reflects progress across a number of key areas. Wireless trends improved, with pricing better reflecting the value we offer customers, postpaid churn reaching its lowest quarterly level in three years, and improved product margins. Fiber continued to drive internet growth across Canada and the U.S. Bell AI Fabric continued to build momentum, and Bell Media delivered a strong quarter, supported by FIFA World Cup performance and continued growth at Crave.

This is exactly how we said we would run the company, disciplined execution in the core business, focused investment in higher growth opportunities, and a clear path to sustainable free cash flow growth. In fact, we've led the industry for the past couple of years in bringing down Canadian telecom capital spending in the face of unfavorable regulatory decisions, while at the same time redirecting that capital toward AI Fabric and U.S. fiber. I'll start on Slide three with our progress against the four strategic priorities we outlined last year. Putting the customer first remains foundational. In Q2, the customer experience and retention initiatives we've executed over the past year, and even before that, continued to pay off. Postpaid churn improved four basis points year-over-year to 1.02%, which is the lowest quarterly level in three years. In a lower growth market, that matters.

We also launched our Always-on Internet solutions, wireless internet backup, and power backup. These are practical solutions that help customers stay connected when internet service is disrupted or the power goes out, and they reflect how Bell's network assets can work together to deliver a more resilient experience. That focus on reliability and performance is also being recognized externally. During the quarter, Bell received leading network recognition from Opensignal, RootMetrics, and Ookla, including Canada's most reliable internet, Canada's fastest 5G plus network, and a suite of 10 Ookla speed test awards. Now turning to our second priority, delivering the best fiber and wireless networks. You see that fiber continued to drive growth in the quarter. In Canada, we added more than 45,000 residential FTTH internet subscribers, including Ziply Fiber. Total residential FTTH net adds were nearly 55,000, which contributed to 14.2% internet revenue growth.

Where we have fiber, we continue to win. That's been consistent. It's consistent in Canada and now in the U.S. as well. At Ziply, the focus remains on build execution, as we mentioned, as early as the beginning of this year and reiterated in May of this year. Permit submissions accelerated significantly through Q2, increasing more than fourfold from April to June. Penetration trends remain consistent with our investment case. Contractor capacity and fiber supply are in place to support the expected second-half build ramp. In wireless, we delivered more than 41,000 postpaid mobile phone net adds, comprising significant loading on the main Bell brand. Consumer share, which is in line with our peers. We saw improved performance in the large enterprise segment. This reflects our focus on higher-value customers, lower handset discounting, and a healthier recurring revenue mix across all customer segments.

Video also remains an important part of the household strategy, of course. Video net adds improved by roughly 24,000 year-over-year, driven by strong uptake of streaming bundles and a successful transition to hardware-free TV. Again, these are things we said we were going to do at Investor Day last October. If you combine that with fiber growth and adoption of Bell's own streaming and content services, you see support and continued momentum and product intensity on the full service Bell brand. We also completed construction of our first sovereign directed device satellite ground station in Quebec, with additional ground stations underway as we build the infrastructure to extend wireless connectivity beyond the reach of traditional networks through our AST partnership. Turning to our next strategic priority, which is leading in enterprise with AI-powered solutions.

This remains one of the clearest examples of how we are repositioning Bell for growth. We're bringing together cloud, cybersecurity, AI adoption, data sovereignty, connectivity, and AI infrastructure for enterprise and government customers. This is where Bell's enterprise relationships National networks and AI capabilities come together. In Q2, demand for Ateco and Bell Cyber remained strong with combined revenue up 29% year-over-year. Again, clear proof of underlying momentum in AI-powered solutions. At the same time, Bell AI Fabric continues to move from announcement to execution. Saskatchewan remains on track with construction progressing at the 300-megawatt facility and first phase operations expected in the first half of 2027. The facility in Winnipeg is on track to enter service in the second half of this year, and Merritt Phase 2, which is supported by the Cohere, BUZZ HPC, and Hypertec partnership across AI models, GPU infrastructure, and Canadian-built hardware.

That facility, Phase 2, expected in early 2027 as well. Turning to the last of our four strategic priorities, which is building a digital media and content powerhouse. The digital strategy, which we've been executing in Bell Media for several years now, continued to show strong momentum in Q2. Crave surpassed 5 million subscribers, growing 23% year-over-year to 5.1 million, supported by 49% growth in direct-to-consumer streaming subs. That scale matters because it gives a strong owned and operated domestic platform for premium content, sports, and streaming, anchored in Canadian storytelling and our commitment to cultural sovereignty. FIFA World Cup 2026 was a major highlight this quarter, of course. Our live coverage reached 30.5 million Canadians across TSN, RDS, CTV, Noovo, and Crave, with millions more through FIFA programming across our platforms.

The tournament's final in July became the most-watched World Cup match ever in Canada, with an average audience of 6.4 million viewers. Matches also consistently ranked among the most-watched content on Crave. More broadly, premium content becomes more valuable as we monetize it across the full Bell Media ecosystem and increasingly through global content distribution. In Q2, digital video advertising revenue grew 39% year-over-year, and total digital revenues were up 6%. That reinforces the monetization opportunity we continue to see from this strategy. Overall, Q2 reinforced the strategic role Bell Media plays inside BCE. Premium content, growing streaming scale, and stronger digital monetization, translating into 8.9% revenue growth and 3.8% adjusted EBITDA growth in the quarter. I'll move to slide five because I want to come back to Bell AI Fabric and show the physical progress we're making on the ground. Saskatchewan is the anchor project.

Since our Q1 call, piling has been completed, and structural steelwork is underway at our 300-megawatt facility. Key construction partners are in place, and the first phase remains on track for operations in the first half of 2027. We now have approximately 335 megawatts of contracted capacity. Real facilities, real construction milestones, real customer commitments, all supporting the long-term AI-powered solutions growth platform we're building. Turning to slide six. This is the scorecard we introduced at Investor Day to track whether the strategy is translating into deeper customer relationships, stronger monetization, and sustainable growth. Q2 shows continued execution against that roadmap. We're focused on the operating drivers that support long-term revenue, EBITDA, and free cash flow growth. Before I close, I want to thank the Bell team.

The results we're sharing with everyone today reflect their focus on serving our customers, growing our business, and executing against the transparent plan. Curtis will now take you through the financial and operating results in detail. Curtis, over to you now.