Three-month TSX trading in Shaw Communications

The digital services offered by Shaw Communications Inc. are the fastest-growth areas of the company, it said in releasing its third-quarter results Friday.

While its basic cable and direct-to-home TV operations added just a handful of subscribers each, digital TV, digital phone and internet added tens of thousands of buyers.

The company's digital phone service grew added 57,700 subscribers to 549,932.

"In just over three years since the launch of this product, penetration of digital phone lines now stands at 28 per cent of basic customers who have the service available to them," Jim Shaw, CEO , said in a news release.

During the quarter, Shaw launched digital phone service in Prince Albert and Swift Current, Sask., and Banff, Alta., and expanded on Vancouver Island. Shaw distinguishes its digital service from voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) web phones by saying it uses a secure, managed company network that links straight to the public phone system.

VoIP, in comparison, "can result in poor sound quality, dropped calls and even complete service outages," the company website said.

While the 2.2 million basic cable and 891,000 satellite-TV customers contribute most of the company's revenue, digital TV and internet customers are growing much faster, although from smaller bases.

3-month profit rises

Taken together, the company's businesses boosted profit for the three months ended May 31 to $128 million (30 cents a share, diluted), compared with $92 million (21 cents) a year earlier.

Excluding non-operating items, profit for the three months would have been $117 million, compared with $86 million.

Revenue was $792.1 million, compared with $702.2 million.

Profit for the nine months ended May 31 was $539 million ($1.24 a share, diluted), compared with $253 million (58 cents) a year earlier.

The current nine-month profit includes a tax recovery of approximately $199 million, mostly from lower corporate tax rates. Excluding non-operating items, profit for the nine months would have been $327 million, compared with $246 million a year earlier.

Revenue was $2.30 billion, compared with $2.06 billion.

Shaw's Class B shares gained 46 cents to close at $19.79 on the TSX.