MONTREAL – Despite stable subscriber growth, first quarter profits at Cogeco Inc. dropped by almost 30%.
The company blamed the result of a one-time favourable income tax adjustment last year for the decrease in profits this year. Cogeco reported net income of $16 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2011, down from $22.7 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue increased by 4.5% to reach $342.8 million.
Cogeco Cable added 70,690 Canadian subscribers and 20,179 customers in Portugal this quarter. The growth in cable, Internet and digital phone subscribers, which the company calls revenue generating units (RGU), was a modest 1.2% from the same time last year.
For the period ended November 30, 2010, the company reported 881,543 basic cable customers; 575,929 Internet customers; 588,332 digital cable customers and 375,463 telephony service customers.
"Cogeco’s first quarter financial results are very positive”, said president and CEO Louis Audet, in a statement. “Cogeco Cable demonstrates strong internal growth and is in an excellent position to achieve superior performance in 2011.”
The company also announced plans to raise its outlook for 2011 because of its results. Click here and here for more details.
