VERDUN, Quebec (AP) — VERDUN, Quebec (AP) — BCE Inc. (BCE) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $319.5 million.

On a per-share basis, the Verdun, Quebec-based company said it had net income of 31 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 56 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 54 cents per share.

The Canada's largest telecommunications company posted revenue of $4.76 billion in the period, missing Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.82 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $1.72 billion, or $1.69 per share. Revenue was reported as $18.28 billion.

BCE shares have climbed slightly since the beginning of the year. The stock has dropped 14% in the last 12 months.

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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