VERDUN, Quebec (AP) _ BCE Inc. (BCE) on Thursday reported first-quarter net income of $501.2 million.

On a per-share basis, the Verdun, Quebec-based company said it had net income of 55 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and costs related to mergers and acquisitions, came to 58 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 56 cents per share.

The Canada's largest telecommunications company posted revenue of $4.19 billion in the period, missing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.2 billion.

BCE shares have declined 13% since the beginning of the year. The stock has fallen nearly 10% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BCE at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BCE

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News