BCE Inc.'s first-quarter earnings inched higher despite the company taking $88 million in charges for restructuring.

The Montreal-based company, which is the corporate parent of Bell Canada, said it made $477 million (52 cents a share), compared to $474 million (51 cents a share) a year earlier.

The company (TSX:BCE) said its earnings before restructuring and other items and net gains on investments were 49 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been expecting the company to make 46 cents a share.

3-month trading
3-month trading

The restructuring charge related to the company's plan to cut its costs and reduce its payroll by about 4,000 jobs.

BCE's revenues came in at $4.7 billion, an increase of 2.2 per cent.

"BCE's performance in the first quarter is on track against the two-year plan we laid out on February 1 to reposition Bell Canada by ramping up our growth services, expanding bandwidth, making service a market differentiator and lowering costs," said Michael Sabia, the company's president and CEO, in a statement.

Shares of BCE slipped 22 cents, closing at $27.30 on the TSX.