Telus makes the call to raise dividend by five per cent

TORONTO — Canada’s thirdlargest wireless carrier is raising its quarterly dividend by five per cent and will ask shareholders to vote on scrapping its dual-share structure as a response to investor demand.

Telus Corp.’s dividend will be increased by three cents to 61 cents, payable on July 3 to holders of record as of June 8, the Vancouver-based company said Tuesday. Under a proposal to be voted on at Telus’s annual shareholders’ meeting on May 9, each current non-voting stock would be converted into a common share on a one-for-one basis.

Non-voting shares have typically traded at a discount to their counterparts with voting rights and Telus is seeking to eliminate the disparity, the company said. Telus, along with BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., is under growing pressure from new operators challenging the three carriers’ dominance of the Canadian wireless market.

Telus reported fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as the company spent more on device subsidies to keep customers from switching to new entrants Wind Mobile, Public Mobile and Mobilicity. Telus has been returning more cash to shareholders and this is its fifth dividend increase in the past 19 months.

If shareholders vote to eliminate the dual-share structure, the common stock would trade in New York as well as Toronto, the company said.