MONTREAL – While Quebecor took a 5% hit to second quarter revenue, which came in at $1 billion due mostly to the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, there were still positives to take away.
Its adjusted EBITDA for the period ended June 30th was $475.7 million, up 4.5%, while net income lines were up and cash flow grew 18.6% to $326.1 million.
The company’s telecommunications segment grew its revenues by 1.7% where Videotron increased its revenues from customer equipment sales by 43.8% and mobile telephony by 9.1% in Q2 2020, compared to Q2 2019
Videotron’s total average billing per unit (a.k.a. customer) was $49.57 in the second quarter of 2020, compared with $50.20 in the same period of 2019. Mobile ABPU was $50.32 in the second quarter of 2020 compared with $52.56 in the same period of 2019, a 4.3% decrease “due in part to the popularity of bring your own device plans and the various measures taken to support customers during the Covid-19 pandemic,” says the company’s press release.
There was a net increase of 16,700 revenue generating units (which is a count of cable TV+internet+home phone+wireless services, which means one new uber-bundled customer can be four RGUs), including 35,100 wireless connections and 17,200 subscriptions cable Internet access service.
“Despite substantial revenue declines at some business units, the Corporation continued to grow its customer base and increase its profitability while maintaining its financial strength,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO. The company’s TV, film and publishing unit TVA Group reported its results last week.
“As a provider of essential services and a leading corporate citizen, we pursue a mission of connecting, informing and entertaining the public that has never been more vital than in this unprecedented health crisis,” added Péladeau in the release.
“The popularity of our Helix home entertainment and management platform also continues to grow, with more than 350,000 RGUs since its launch in August 2019. As well, our mobile telephony, Internet and Club illico subscription video on demand (“Club illico”) services continued posting sustained growth, with increases of 173,000, 46,200 and 41,200 RGUs respectively over the past 12 months,” said Jean François Pruneau, president of Videotron, in the release.
For more on Quebecor’s Q2, please click here.
