Bell Canada Reports Q1

MONTREAL -- For the first quarter of 2005, BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE - News News) reported revenues of $4.9 billion, up 4.8% and EBITDA of $1.9 billion, up 5.1% when compared to the same period last year. Operating income increased by 5.4% year over year to reach $1.1 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) were $0.51, an increase of one cent over EPS before gains reported in the first quarter of 2004.

"This is a solid start to the year. Our revenue and EBITDA performance continued to improve reflecting progress on many fronts across the business," said Michael Sabia, President and CEO of Bell Canada Enterprises. "Contributing to our financial results were cost savings of $120 million realized from initiatives under Project Galileo and the benefits of last year's employee departure program. In addition, top line growth was driven by a 6.6% increase in our data revenues reflecting in part the good performance of our DSL service this quarter."

In December 2004, Bell Canada outlined three key priorities driving its strategy to deliver unrivaled communications to its customers while setting the standard in Internet Protocol (IP). During the first quarter the Company made progress in all three areas, for example:

"We continue to deliver on our plan to redefine Bell Canada," added Mr. Sabia. "Despite some temporary softness in our Mobility unit during the first part of the quarter, the operational transformation of our business is very much on track."

BCE Inc.