MONTREAL – Quebecor’s TVA Group announced this week operating revenues of $147.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, a year-over-year decrease of $16.6 million.
However, thanks to the delay in the start of the NHL season and the broadcasting expenses normally associated with that, consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in at $46 million, $12.5 million better than Q4 2019.
The broadcasting segment alone showed $36.7 million in EBITDA in the quarter, a 69% increase, which the company attributed to the specialty services, more specifically, TVA Sports “whose significant cost reductions were a reflection of the postponement of the start of the National Hockey League2020–2021 season, as well as a 62% increase in TVA Network’s adjusted EBITDA,” reads the press release.
“Although growth in adjusted EBITDA this quarter was mainly due to the exceptional situation at TVA Sports, as well as the various government assistance measures, it was also the result of efforts made at multiple levels to mitigate the major impacts of the crisis on the corporation,” said France Lauzière, president and CEO of TVA Group.
“That said, the Covid-19 pandemic continued to have impacts on our activities, including a decline in advertising revenues, a large reduction in the sporting events, a delay in our distribution activities and the need to continually adapt our work environments and methods in order to safeguard the health and safety of our employees and the public. Although all of our activities resumed during the fourth quarter, the volume in every segment continued to decrease significantly.
“Our ability to recover business volume over the coming quarters and the speed with which we can do so remain dependent on such factors as how the public health crisis evolves, the government measures implemented to control the spread of Covid-19 and the difficult situation faced by some of our customers and advertisers.”
TVA Group received $3.3 million from the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy to support employment levels in the face of the pandemic.
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