Mr. George Cope reports

BCE REPORTS 2015 Q4 AND FULL-YEAR RESULTS, ANNOUNCES 2016 FINANCIAL TARGETS - COMMON SHARE DIVIDEND INCREASED 5.0% TO $2.73 PER YEAR

BCE Inc. has released results for the fourth quarter and full year 2015, provided financial guidance targets for 2016, and declared a 13-cent-per-share increase in the BCE annual common share dividend to $2.73.

                                    FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS        
                             (In millions except per-share amounts)      
      
                                                   Q4 2015  Q4 2014     2015     2014
BCE
Operating revenues                                  $5,603   $5,528  $21,514  $21,042
Adjusted EBITDA                                      2,073    2,022    8,551    8,303
Net earnings attributable to common shareholders       496      542    2,526    2,363
EPS                                                   0.58     0.64     2.98     2.98
Adjusted EPS                                          0.72     0.72     3.36     3.18
Cash flows from operating activities                 1,510    1,527    6,274    6,241
Free cash flow                                         916      833    2,999    2,744
Free cash flow per share                              1.07     1.01     3.54     3.46

"The Bell team's exceptional performance in the fourth quarter and throughout 2015 underscores the enduring strength of our strategy to lead Canada's broadband revolution with unmatched innovation in the growth services of communications: wireless, TV, Internet and media. Gaining 204,000 new broadband TV, Internet and wireless postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Bell delivered the strong financial performance that enables both continued investment in Canada's broadband future and growing returns to BCE shareholders, including our latest dividend increase announced today," said George Cope, president and chief executive officer of BCE and Bell Canada. "We saw strong performance across our business segments in a highly competitive fourth quarter. With a mobile LTE network acknowledged as Canada's best, Bell Wireless continued to deliver strong growth in smart phone customer additions, mobile data usage, revenue, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Our wireline business grew adjusted EBITDA, reducing costs while continuing to outperform the market with strong Fibe TV and Internet customer additions throughout 2015. Despite growing content costs, Bell Media supported BCE's free cash flow generation with increased revenue, while securing exclusive Canadian rights to all of HBO's premium content. Backed by the fastest networks, the most innovative communications products and a clear lead in content across all screens, the Bell team is delivering for both customers and shareholders."

Bell is focused on achieving a clear goal -- to be recognized by customers as Canada's leading communications company -- through the execution of six strategic imperatives: invest in broadband networks and services, accelerate wireless, leverage wireline momentum, expand media leadership, improve customer service, and achieve a competitive cost structure. This strategy of broadband leadership has delivered continued strong performance across wireless, TV, Internet and media growth services; 41 consecutive quarters of uninterrupted year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth; and 12 increases to the BCE common share dividend in the last seven years -- a total increase of 87 per cent.

"Having achieved all financial targets in 2015, with substantial growth in adjusted net earnings and free cash flow driven by healthy year-over-year increases in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, Bell's operating momentum and financial foundation going into 2016 are very strong," said Glen LeBlanc, chief financial officer of BCE and Bell Canada. "Our 2016 financial targets reflect continued projected wireless profitability, a second consecutive year of positive wireline adjusted EBITDA growth, an improving financial profile for Bell Media, and an attractive balance sheet supported by good liquidity and an investment-grade credit profile.

"We expect to drive growth in underlying adjusted net earnings and a healthy year-over-year increase in free cash flow, underpinned by marketplace momentum in growth services and an operating cost structure significantly tightened in 2015, which included the difficult decisions required in implementing staffing reductions. BCE is focused on ensuring we have the financial capacity required to support both ongoing capital investment in Canada's broadband wireline and wireless infrastructure, and consistent and sustainable returns to the shareholders who have invested in BCE's growth strategy," said Mr. LeBlanc.

BCE results

BCE operating revenue increased 1.4 per cent in the fourth quarter to $5,603-million, led by strong top-line results at Bell Wireless and Bell Media that drove service revenue growth of 1.6 per cent. This was partly offset by a 1.5-per-cent year-over-year decline at Bell Wireline, due to the impact of continued slow economic growth and competitive pricing pressures on service and product revenues in Bell Business Markets. For the full year 2015, BCE operating revenue increased in line with the company's guidance target to $21,514-million on growth in service revenue and product revenue of 2.2 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively.

BCE's adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter grew 2.5 per cent to $2,073-million, driven by increases of 6.8 per cent at Bell Wireless and 1.5 per cent at Bell Wireline. Bell Media adjusted EBITDA declined 4.2 per cent due to higher content costs. Higher wireless adjusted EBITDA, the result of profitable postpaid growth and strong service revenue flow-through, and lower wireline operating costs contributed to a 0.4-percentage-point improvement in BCE's consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin to 37.0 per cent, up from 36.6 per cent in the fourth quarter 2014. Consistent with its 2015 guidance target range of 2-per-cent-to-4-per-cent growth for the year, BCE's adjusted EBITDA increased 3.0 per cent to $8,551-million from $8,303-million in 2014.

BCE's net earnings attributable to common shareholders were $496-million, or 58 cents per share, this quarter, down 8.5 per cent and 9.4 per cent, respectively, from $542-million, or 64 cents per share, in the fourth quarter 2014. The year-over-year decrease was due to higher severance, acquisition and other costs, which totalled $152-million in the fourth quarter 2015, of which $120-million related mainly to work force restructuring initiatives. Higher other expense, reflecting mark-to-market losses on equity derivative contracts entered into to economically hedge future payments under the company's share-based compensation plans, also contributed to the year-over-year decline. This was partly offset by higher adjusted EBITDA; lower asset impairment charges related to Bell Media's properties, which totalled $38-million in the quarter; and lower income taxes. Excluding the impact of severance, acquisition and other costs, net losses on investments, and early debt redemption costs, adjusted net earnings increased 0.8 per cent to $615-million, while adjusted earnings per share were unchanged at 72 cents.

For the full year 2015, net earnings attributable to common shareholders were $2,526-million, or $2.98 per share, compared with $2,363-million, or $2.98 per share, in 2014. The increase was the result of solid growth in adjusted EBITDA, lower non-controlling interest from the privatization of Bell Aliant, lower depreciation and amortization expense due to an increase in the useful life of application software, and reduced interest expense on various Bell Canada debt instruments. This was partly offset by higher severance, acquisition and other costs and higher other expense. Adjusted net earnings of $2,845-million and adjusted EPS of $3.36 in 2015 were up 12.7 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively, compared with 2014, reflecting higher adjusted EBITDA driven by the increased contribution of Bell's growth services.

BCE invested $958-million in new capital in the fourth quarter, bringing total capital expenditures for 2015 to $3,626-million. This represents a capital intensity ratio (capital expenditures as a percentage of total revenue) for 2015 of 16.9 per cent, in line with the company's guidance target of approximately 17 per cent. Capital spending was focused on connecting more homes and businesses directly to the company's broadband fibre network, including the buildout of Gigabit Fibe infrastructure in Toronto and other urban locations; the continued expansion of the company's LTE wireless network; and increased wireless and Internet network capacity to support higher speeds and growing data usage.

BCE's cash flows from operating activities were $1,510-million, compared with $1,527-million in the fourth quarter 2014. Free cash flow generated was $916-million, a 10.0-per-cent increase from $833-million the year before, driven by higher adjusted EBITDA, lower capital expenditures, and the favourable impact of the privatization of Bell Aliant, partly offset by a decrease in cash flow from working capital changes. For full year 2015, BCE's cash flows from operating activities increased to $6,274-million from $6,241-million in 2014, while free cash flow was up 9.3 per cent to $2,999-million. Free cash flow per share was $1.07 in the fourth quarter and $3.54 for the full year 2015, representing increases of 5.9 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively, from $1.01 and $3.46 in 2014.

In the fourth quarter 2015, BCE gained 91,308 net new wireless postpaid customers and reported a net loss of 28,844 prepaid subscribers; 74,092 net new Fibe TV customers and a net loss of 36,306 satellite TV customers; and the addition of 38,908 new high-speed Internet customers. NAS line net losses totalled 106,910. At the end of 2015, BCE served a total of 8,245,831 wireless customers, up 1.6 per cent from the fourth quarter 2014 (including 7,375,416 postpaid customers, an increase of 3.7 per cent); total TV subscribers of 2,738,496, up 3.6 per cent (including 1,182,791 Fibe TV customers, an increase of 26.7 per cent); total high-speed Internet subscribers of 3,413,147, up 3.5 per cent; and total NAS lines of 6,688,666, a decrease of 6.2 per cent.

Corporate developments

Thomas O'Neill to retire as BCE chair, board to nominate Gordon Nixon

Thomas C. O'Neill will retire as chair of the board at the BCE annual general shareholder meeting scheduled for April 28, 2016, in Montreal. The board plans to nominate BCE director Gordon M. Nixon as chair contingent upon his re-election as a director by BCE shareholders at the April 28 annual meeting.

As a BCE director since 2003 and chair since February, 2009, Mr. O'Neill's guidance has been essential to Bell's transformation into the leader in Canadian broadband communications services while delivering outstanding returns to BCE shareholders. BCE has won numerous accolades for outstanding corporate governance under Mr. O'Neill's leadership. A fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors, Mr. O'Neill is chair of Bank of Nova Scotia, a director of Adecco SA and of Loblaw Companies Ltd., and chair of the board of trustees of Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital.

A director of BCE since November, 2014, Mr. Nixon was president and chief executive officer of Royal Bank of Canada from 2001 until 2014, and chief executive officer of RBC Dominion Securities from 1999 to 2001. A member of the Order of Canada, Mr. Nixon is a director of George Weston Ltd. and of BlackRock Inc. He also serves as chair of scientific research and collaboration centre MaRS and of the Queen's University capital campaign.

BCE common share dividend increased

The BCE annualized common share dividend will increase 5.0 per cent, or 13 cents per share, from $2.60 to $2.73 effective with BCE's first quarter 2016 dividend payable on April 15, 2016, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 15, 2016. BCE maintains the dividend payout ratio within its target policy range of 65 per cent to 75 per cent of free cash flow. The higher dividend for 2016 is fully supported by higher expected free cash flow generation driven by continued execution of Bell's six strategic imperatives and growing financial contributions from all Bell business segments. Including today's dividend increase announcement, BCE has increased its annual common share dividend 12 times in the past seven years, representing an 87-per-cent increase.

Another record Bell Let's Talk Day

The signature annual event in Bell's national mental health initiative, Bell Let's Talk Day on Jan. 27 grew the conversation about Canada's mental health like never before. Led by Bell Let's Talk national spokesman Clara Hughes, Canadians and people worldwide sent a record 125,915,295 texts, calls, tweets and Facebook shares in support of mental health on Bell Let's Talk Day. With a Bell donation of five cents per interaction, this $6,295,764.75 in new financing increases Bell's commitment to Canadian mental health to $79,919,178.55. The BellLetsTalk hashtag was the top Twitter trend in Canada and the most-used in the world on Jan. 27 with 6,826,114 total tweets and retweets -- 43 per cent more than last year.

Bell's mobile LTE network ranked as fastest in Canada yet again

In January, Bell's 4G LTE network was ranked No. 1 nationally in a new report from independent United Kingdom analyst firm OpenSignal, following a similar top ranking by PCMag in September, 2015. OpenSignal found that Bell delivered the fastest wireless 4G network download speeds in Canada, averaging 19.9 megabits per second, far above the global average of 12.6 Mbps.

Bell's TV leadership extends to 4K

As Canada's largest TV provider and No. 1 multimedia company, Bell continues to set the pace in Canadian television. With the Jan. 20 Toronto Raptors versus Boston Celtics NBA game, TSN became the first broadcaster to produce a live 4K ultra HD broadcast in North America. Bell TV also announced in January the availability of the Fibe 4K whole home PVR for Fibe TV customers in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City. Far superior to basic cable 4K set-top boxes lacking recording and other PVR capabilities, the Fibe 4K whole home PVR is also ready for the next step in broadcasting: high dynamic range. In February, Bell will extend availability of the 4K whole home PVR to Bell Fibe TV customers in Ontario and Quebec and Bell Aliant FibreOP TV customers in Atlantic Canada.

Bell Media signs HBO exclusive, launches CraveTV to all Internet users

In November, 2015, Bell Media signed a long-term agreement with HBO to exclusively deliver in Canada all current, past and library HBO programming across linear, on-demand and OTT platforms, along with a new original co-production partnership. In January, 2015, Bell Media concluded a similar agreement with CBS Corp. to exclusively bring Showtime programming to Canada. As sole operator of HBO Canada, Bell Media announced the Movie Network would become a national pay TV service in 2016 as Corus Entertainment winds down operations of its Movie Central and Encore Avenue pay TV services in Western and Northern Canada. In January, CraveTV became available to all Canadians with Internet service for $7.99 per month, offering access to Canada's best video streaming service and its thousands of hours of premium television entertainment from HBO, Showtime and other premium content providers.

$863-million bought deal equity offering

BCE launched a bought deal common share offering on Nov. 23, 2015, the first by the company since 2002. The base equity offering of $750-million, and the exercise of the 15 per cent overallotment option that resulted in the sale of 15,111,000 common shares at the offering price of $57.10 per share, generated total gross proceeds of $862,838,100. These proceeds support debt reduction and maintenance of a healthy balance sheet.

Voluntary pension plan contribution

Bell Canada made a $250-million voluntary pension plan contribution in December, 2015, to further reinforce the strong solvency position of its defined benefit pension plans and reduce the amount of BCE's future pension obligations, effectively removing the use of letters of credit to finance Bell Canada's deficit contribution. The voluntary contribution was financed from cash on hand at the end of 2015. Accelerating the financing of Bell Canada's future obligation is an efficient use of cash given the market's general expectation of a sustained low-interest-rate environment.

Bell named one of Canada's top 100 employers

Bell was named one of Canada's top 100 employers for 2016 in November, recognized for its leadership in workplace mental health initiatives, next-generation talent development and a healthy workplace environment, and today was named a top employer in its headquarters city of Montreal. Bell team members Nathalie Cook, Bell Media's vice-president, brand partnerships, and Joanne MacDonald, vice-president, CTV News, were named to Canada's top 100 most powerful women 2015 by WXN in November. Also recognized was Sophie Brochu, chief executive officer of Gaz Metro and a BCE director. Bell WXN recipients include hall of fame inductees Mary Ann Turcke, president of Bell Media; Martine Turcotte, vice-chair, Quebec; and Karen Sheriff, formerly chief executive officer of Bell Aliant and now chief executive officer of Bell partner Q9 Networks.

BCE operating results by segment

Bell Wireless

Bell Wireless continued to deliver healthy financial and operating results in the fourth quarter. Service revenue grew 6.3 per cent to $1,588-million, reflecting a more favourable postpaid subscriber mix and a 23-per-cent increase in data revenue that drove strong year-over-year growth in blended average revenue per user. Data revenue growth was supported by a higher proportion of postpaid subscribers using smart phones and greater usage of the company's leading 4G LTE mobile network. Product revenue increased 2.4 per cent to $171-million due to a higher number of customer upgrades and postpaid gross additions compared with the previous year.

Wireless adjusted EBITDA increased 6.8 per cent to $641-million, delivering a 0.2-percentage-point expansion in service margin to 40.4 per cent. This was achieved even with a $48-million year-over-year increase in combined total retention spending and subscriber acquisition costs in the quarter. Bell Wireless strongly contributed to consolidated free cash flow generation in the fourth quarter with growth in adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures of 17.3 per cent to $448-million.

For full year 2015, Bell Wireless operating revenues increased 8.7 per cent to $6,876-million with service revenue growing 7.6 per cent to $6,246-million, and product revenue up 22.2 per cent to $590-million. Adjusted EBITDA grew 7.8 per cent to $2,828-million as strong service revenue flow-through from an expanding base of postpaid subscribers. Higher ARPU more than offset higher retention and subscriber acquisition costs, driving a modest increase in service margin to 45.3 per cent.

• Postpaid gross additions totalled 387,696 in the fourth quarter, up 1.4 per cent over the year before, reflecting increased market activity driven by aggressive holiday promotions and an increased number of off-contract customers. For full year 2015, postpaid gross additions totalled 1,338,141, up 3.6 per cent from 1,291,207 in 2014.
• Postpaid net additions were 91,308 in the fourth quarter, down from 118,120 the year before, the result of increased customer churn attributable to the seasonally high level of promotional activity combined with a greater number of off-contract postpaid subscribers. Similarly, full-year 2015 postpaid net additions were 265,369 compared with 311,954 in 2014. Postpaid customer churn in the fourth quarter and full year 2015 increased 0.09 and 0.06 percentage point, respectively, over 2014 to 1.38 per cent and 1.28 per cent.
• Bell Wireless postpaid customers totalled 7,375,416 at the end of 2015, a 3.7-per-cent increase over 2014. Total Bell Wireless customers grew 1.6 per cent to 8,245,831.
• The percentage of postpaid subscribers with smart phones increased to 78 per cent, compared with 76 per cent at the end of 2014. The proportion of postpaid subscribers on the LTE network reached 68 per cent at the end 2015, up from 47 per cent a year earlier.
• Blended ARPU increased 4.4 per cent to $63.67 in the fourth quarter, driven by a higher percentage of customers on two-year contracts, increased data usage on the LTE network, and a greater mix of postpaid customers in the total subscriber base. For full year 2015, blended ARPU increased 5.3 per cent to $63.09.
• Cost of acquisition was up 6.1 per cent to $525 per subscriber in the fourth quarter, due mainly to a higher postpaid customer mix and richer handset offers. For full year 2015, COA increased 5.9 per cent to $467. Retention spending increased to 14.3 per cent of wireless service revenues from 13.5 per cent in 2014, reflecting more customer upgrades, driven by an increased number of customer contract expirations as a result of the double cohort, and a higher mix of premium smart phones.
• Retention spending for full year 2015 was 12.6 per cent of wireless service revenues.
• Bell increased population coverage of its national 4G LTE mobile network, reaching 96 per cent of Canadians at the end of 2015 and offering data speeds ranging from 75 Mbps to 150 Mbps (average 12 to 40 Mbps). Bell also continued with the rollout of its dual-band LTE advanced wireless network, now providing service to 48 per cent of the Canadian population in Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Alberta and B.C. at data speeds up to 260 Mbps (average 18 to 74 Mbps), with plans to cover 75 per cent by the end of 2016. This is complemented by a Tri-band LTE-A wireless service, delivering mobile data speeds of up to 335 megabits per second (expected average download speeds of 25 to 100 Mbps) in Halifax, Fredericton, Moncton, Toronto, Hamilton and Oakville.
• On Nov. 12, 2015, Bell Mobility launched a roaming feature called roam better that gives customers access to specialized roaming rates while travelling. The first country launched was the U.S., where customers who opt in to this feature enjoy unlimited voice and text messages across the U.S. and back to Canada as well as 100 Mb of data usage for $5 per day. Additional countries will be added in 2016.

Bell Wireline

Wireline operating revenue decreased 1.5 per cent to $3,161-million in the fourth quarter, impacted by the lapping of 2014 price increases on Bell's residential services, higher sales of international long-distance minutes in the fourth quarter 2014, and a reduction in spending by business customers on business service solutions and data product equipment, as a result of continued slow economic growth. This was moderated by the performance of Bell's residential services unit, which delivered a ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth, driven by 5.3-per-cent-higher combined Internet and TV revenues.

Wireline adjusted EBITDA increased 1.5 per cent in the fourth quarter to $1,248-million, with margin improving 1.2 percentage points to an industry-best 39.5 per cent, supported by a 3.4-per-cent reduction in operation costs that reflected integration synergies with Bell Aliant and other operating efficiencies related to further improvements in customer service and deployment of fibre.

For full year 2015, wireline operating revenue decreased 0.5 per cent to $12,258-million, while operating costs improved 1.6 per cent to $7,258-million. This resulted in a 1.1-per-cent increase in wireline adjusted EBITDA to $5,000-million, with a 0.7-percentage-point improvement in margin to 40.8 per cent. Bell Wireline strongly contributed to consolidated free cash flow with growth in adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures of 6.8 per cent to $2,191-million. Notably, 2015 marks the first full year of positive adjusted EBITDA and cash flow growth for Bell Wireline since 2005 when cable telephony was launched in major Canadian markets.

• Bell TV added 74,092 net new Fibe TV customers in the fourth quarter, compared with 76,074 in 2014, reflecting less new footprint expansion in 2015. Similarly, full-year 2015 Fibe TV net additions were 253,329 compared with 276,034 in 2014. At the end of 2015, BCE served 1,182,791 Fibe TV subscribers, up 26.7 per cent over the previous year.
• Satellite TV net customer losses increased to 36,306 in the fourth quarter from 33,884 the year before, due mainly to the net loss of wholesale subscribers attributable to the rollout of IPTV service by a competing TV provider in Western Canada. For full year 2015, Satellite TV net customer losses were 145,949 compared with 122,674 in 2014.
• BCE was the fastest-growing broadband TV provider in Canada in 2015 with a combined total of 2,738,496 subscribers, up 3.6 per cent from 2,642,608 at the end of 2014.
• High-speed Internet net additions totalled 38,908 this quarter, compared with 52,010 in the fourth quarter 2014. Despite 12-per-cent-higher retail residential additions in the fourth quarter, reflecting stronger growth in Quebec and Ontario, total Internet net additions were down compared with a year earlier, the result of lower wholesale net customer additions. With full-year 2015 Internet net additions of 155,052 compared with 160,390 in the previous year, BCE continued to build on its position as the leading Internet service provider in Canada with a high-speed Internet subscriber base of 3,413,147 at the end of 2015, up 3.5 per cent over 2014.
• Wireline data revenues were up 1.6 per cent to $1,862-million, driven by combined Internet and TV service revenue growth of 5.3 per cent and 1.8-per-cent higher IP broadband connectivity revenues. This was moderated by reduced spending on business service solutions and data products by the company's large enterprise customers. Similarly, full-year 2015 wireline data revenues increased 2.7 per cent to $7,163-million.
• Residential NAS net losses in the fourth quarter were essentially unchanged at 58,081, compared with 57,232 in the fourth quarter 2014, even with sustained aggressive competitor promotions, service bundle discounts, and continuing wireless and Internet-based technology substitution for local services. For full year 2015, residential NAS net losses improved 9.0 per cent to 278,124 from 305,729 in 2014, benefiting from the pull-through impact of Fibe TV service bundle offers and greater penetration of three-product households.
• Business NAS net losses in the fourth quarter were 48,829 compared with 35,773 the year before. The increase was due to higher deactivations attributable to cost-efficiency initiatives by the company's large enterprise customers and disconnections resulting from the end of the federal election. For full year 2015, business NAS net losses were relatively stable at 160,310 compared with 158,988 in 2014.
• Total NAS access lines at the end of 2015 totalled 6,688,666, a 6.2-per-cent decline compared with the previous year, resulting in a 4.3-per-cent decrease in local and access revenues to $802-million. Long-distance revenue was down 12.8 per cent to $204-million as a result of the flow-through of a reduction in NAS access lines and lower sales of international long-distance minutes compared with the fourth quarter 2014.

Bell Media

Bell Media reported revenues of $816-million in the fourth quarter, 3.4 per cent higher than the year before. Advertising revenues increased compared with the fourth quarter 2014 on conventional TV growth driven by the federal election and strong performance of Bell Media's new prime-time shows for the fall season. Growth at Astral Out of Home, attributable to new contract wins and acquisitions over the past year, also contributed to higher total advertising revenues.

Subscriber revenues this quarter were up over the year before, reflecting steady growth from CraveTV and the company's broad suite of TV Everywhere Go products, as well as favourable rate adjustments with a number of TV broadcast distributors.

Media adjusted EBITDA fell 4.2 per cent in the fourth quarter to $184-million from $192-million the year before, the result of a 5.9-per-cent increase in operating costs that reflected higher costs for sports broadcast rights, content investments for CraveTV, and a return to normalized spending for Canadian programming expenditures following a one-time benefit in the fourth quarter 2014.

For full year 2015, Bell Media revenues were up 1.3 per cent to $2,974-million, while adjusted EBITDA decreased 1.5 per cent to $723-million on 2.2 per cent higher operating costs. Bell Media supported BCE's consolidated free cash flow growth in 2015 with adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures of $622-million, up 4.2 per cent over 2014.

• CTV led the fall TV season with 12 of the top 20 programs, more than all other Canadian networks combined. CTV was the No. 1 network for the 12th consecutive year for both full-day and prime-time broadcasts among total viewers and all key demos. Among viewers aged 25 to 54, CTV's prime-time lineup was ahead of all competitors.
• Bell Media's specialty and pay TV properties reached 82 per cent of all Canadian English specialty and pay TV viewers in the average week during the fourth quarter 2015. Bell Media led in prime-time with the top entertainment specialty station (Discovery) for viewers aged 25 to 54, while Space, Comedy and Bravo all ranked in the top 10.
• Bell Media maintained its leadership position in Quebec's French-language market with audiences for specialty TV reaching 83 per cent of all TV viewers in the average week. Four out of the top 5 specialty channels among the key viewers aged 25 to 54 were Bell Media properties: RDS, Canal D, Super Ecran and Canal Vie.
• Bell Media digital properties led all Canadian broadcast competitors in average monthly unique visitors (17.4 million), total page views (551 million), visits (128 million), video viewers (2.8 million) and videos served (33 million).
• Bell Media remained Canada's top radio broadcaster in the fourth quarter reaching 16.9 million listeners who spent in excess of 81 million hours tuned in each week.

Common share dividend

BCE's board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of 68.25 cents per common share, payable on April 15, 2016, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 15, 2016.

Outlook for 2016

BCE's 2016 guidance targets are underpinned by a favourable financial profile for all three Bell operating segments, with adjusted EPS and free cash flow providing a strong and stable foundation for the 5.0-per-cent increase in BCE's common share dividend for 2016 as well as significant capital reinvestment to support future growth. These targets also reflect the confidence the company has in continuing to successfully manage its wireless, wireline and media businesses within the context of a highly competitive and dynamic market.

The company's 2016 outlook builds on the healthy financial results achieved in 2015 and reflects continued strong projected wireless profitability, a second consecutive year of positive wireline adjusted EBITDA growth, and improved year-over-year media financial performance.

                      2015 GUIDANCE, 2015 RESULTS AND FINANCIAL GUIDANCE TARGETS FOR 2016

                                                    2015 guidance          2015 results             2016 guidance

Revenue growth                                           1% -- 3%                  2.2%                  1% -- 3%
Adjusted EBITDA growth                                   2% -- 4%                  3.0%                  2% -- 4%
Capital intensity                                     approx. 17%                 16.9%               approx. 17%
Adjusted EPS                                       $3.28 -- $3.38                 $3.36            $3.45 -- $3.55
Free cash flow growth                           approx. 8% -- 15%                  9.3%         approx. 4% -- 12%
Annualized common dividend per share                        $2.60                 $2.60                     $2.73
                                                       65% -- 75%                 72.3%                65% -- 75%
Dividend payout policy                          of free cash flow     of free cash flow         of free cash flow

Call with financial analysts

BCE will hold a conference call for financial analysts to discuss the fourth quarter 2015 results on Thursday, Feb. 4, at 8 a.m. Eastern Time. Media are welcome to participate on a listen-only basis. Please dial toll-free 1-866-225-0198 or 416-340-2218. A replay will be available for one week by dialling 1-800-408-3053 or 905-694-9451 and entering pass code 8400379 followed by the number sign.

A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available on BCE's website.

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