Telus says Alberta weakness, competition hurt fourth-quarter profit

By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Telus Corp , one of Canada's three big telecom providers, reported a 16 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by increased wireless competition and sagging demand, partly due to economic weakness in the oil-producing province of Alberta. Shares in the Vancouver-based company were down 1.2 percent at C$39.37 in early afternoon trade. Telus said it would increase capital expenditures by 3 percent to C$2.65 billion this year, after spending he