MONTREAL – Profits and revenues at Cogeco Inc. continued to rise for the third quarter of fiscal 2012.
Profits bounced back to $55.4 million this quarter, compared to a $179.2 million loss in the same period of the previous fiscal year which was mostly attributable to the write-off of its net investment in its Cabovisao Portuguese subsidiary.
For the period ended May 31, revenue was $358 million, up 8.4% from $330 million in the same quarter last year, primarily due to its cable sector and recent acquisition of Metromedia. Cable revenue grew 7.2% to $319.8 million from $298.2 million, while revenue from radio and advertising representation house activities improved by $6.2 million this quarter.
Primary service units (PSU), which represent the sum of television, high speed Internet and telephony service customers, grew by 6,246 net additions in the quarter for a total of 1,962,174. The company said that PSU net additions were lower than in the comparable period of the prior year mainly as a result of category maturity, competitive offers and tightening of its credit controls and processes.
Cogeco Cable ended the quarter with 868,873 basic cable customers (including 765,585 digital subscribers), 628,852 Internet customers, and 464,449 telephony customers. The company lowered its PSU target from 80,000 to 72,000, and reduced its revenue projections by $5 million.
"We are satisfied with the favourable results obtained for the third quarter of fiscal 2012”, said president and CEO Louis Audet, in a statement. “The cable subsidiary continues to grow and most of our performance indicators are on target with our objectives. These solid results demonstrate that with strong cost controls and a dynamic marketing strategy, Cogeco Cable continues to grow in this highly competitive industry."
Cogeco Inc. also provided a preliminary estimate for its 2013 financial year, which begins September 1. It is estimating $1.49 billion of revenue for the 12 months ending August 31, 2013 and $1.41 billion of revenue for the current financial year.
