VERDUN, Quebec (AP) _ BCE Inc. (BCE) on Thursday reported first-quarter net income of $737.4 million.

On a per-share basis, the Verdun, Quebec-based company said it had net income of 76 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 70 cents per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 64 cents per share.

The Canada's largest telecommunications company posted revenue of $4.62 billion in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.59 billion.

BCE shares have increased slightly more than 5% since the beginning of the year. The stock has risen 15% 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

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