Restructuring spending cost phone giant BCE dearly as it struggles to complete a $52-billion privatization in a poor credit market.

Montreal-based BCE saw its third quarter profit fall 36% to $248 million for the three months to Sept. 30, on revenue that flatlined at $4.46 billion.

BCE included a one-time charge of $320 million to reduce its workforce and operating costs as a private-equity consortium led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan attempts to complete a leveraged buyout by Dec. 11.

The banking consortium behind the BCE privatization will look to offset their loans by issuing BCE junk bonds to investors in November, a tall task in credit markets that have seized of late.

BCE, which also has a 15% stake in CTVglobemedia, reported 33,000 new high-speed Internet customers signed up during the latest quarter, to take its total to 2.04 million, while Bell ExpressVu saw its revenue climb 10% to $363 million.