Photo: The Canadian Press
Telus Corp.’s president and chief executive says the company has managed to weather recent economic challenges and even report a profit increase in its most recent quarter because its mix of products spans the internet, data, agriculture and health industries.
“That level of diversification gives us a better backbone of resiliency, whether it’s inflation or supply chain pressures that we’re dealing up simultaneously,” Darren Entwistle said on a Friday call with analysts.
He said the company’s proactive response to challenges, and its investments in technology, have helped it navigate numerous external pressures in the past couple of decades.
“Whether it’s equity market meltdowns or credit crunches or regulatory decisions or inflationary periods, we seem to navigate that turbulence very well.”
Entwistle’s remarks came as public health measures are being lifted in Canada and abroad after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the long-awaited reopening has coincided with a series of global pressures weighing on companies.
Among those pressures are rising interest rates, an inflation level not seen in many years, Russia waging war on Ukraine, supply chain difficulties and even labour shortages.
Telus has not been unscathed, though Entwistle said, to deal with the conditions, the company has a “pretty resilient strategy” focused on Telus International and bundling.
Telus International (TI) was created to operate call centres, but has since shifted to selling information technology and business services like content moderation and mobile app development.
“We have the benefit of being able to access labour arbitrage at TI, so yes, we’ve got pressure. They’ve got pressure,” Entwistle said. “But to the extent to which we can use the TI asset to support, buttress the economics of TELUS Corp., I think all the better.”
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