TELUS Shines in Q1 2026 with Record-Breaking Customer Growth and Strong Financial Performance
TELUS, a leading telecommunications company, has delivered an impressive performance in its first quarter of 2026. In a conference call held on May 8th, the company's executives highlighted key highlights from the quarter, showcasing the company's commitment to operational excellence, cost efficiency, and customer growth.
In the first quarter of 2026, TELUS achieved industry-leading customer growth of 262,000, with 12,000 mobile phone net additions and 229,000 connected device net additions. This was further supported by Internet customer net additions of some 21,000, marking a record-breaking result for the company.
The company's commitment to operational excellence and cost efficiency has enabled TELUS to deliver stable profitability and industry-best free cash flow growth of 19% on a comparable basis. This performance underscores the enduring resiliency of the business and the compelling strength of its leading portfolio of bundled services nationally.
TELUS's mobile and fixed customer growth demonstrates sustained demand for its premium offerings, underpinned by world-leading broadband networks and customer service excellence. The company's PureFibre network is a significant strategic asset, valued at approximately CAD 20 billion based on comparable fiber infrastructure asset valuations in the United States.
The company's commitment to economic margin accretive customer growth has resulted in industry-leading customer lifetime revenue, supported by industry-best churn result and continued improving ARPU performance. As a result of its moderating ARPU decline, network revenue was higher by 1%, marking the second consecutive quarter of positive growth and modestly leading the industry.
TELUS Health, the company's unique data-centric growth business, delivered another quarter of strong growth, achieving service revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth of 11%. This performance was bolstered by CAD 431 million in annualized LifeWorks synergies, overachieving its target and nearly 3x its original commitment. TELUS Health is now generating over CAD 2 billion in annual revenue and targeting EBITDA of over CAD 400 million in 2026.
By leveraging its superior and growing portfolio of bundled products and services on a national basis, TELUS has created compelling value for its customers. The company's sustained focus on enhancing the customer experience, combined with the strength of its customer relationships and the value of its bundled solutions, positions it well for an improving trajectory going forward.
