MONTREAL – Quebecor Inc. posted a net loss of $167.8 million in the third quarter, a dramatic turnaround from the $17 million in profits it posted at this time last year.
The company attributed the loss to an unfavourable variance of $184.9 million, including a $177 million unfavourable non-cash impact of fluctuations in the value of goodwill, intangible assets and derivative financial instruments.
Revenues were up 1.9% year-over-year to $1.08 billion from $1.05 billion, and operating income increased 8.9% to $380.3 million from $349.3 million. On an adjusted basis, Quebecor recorded a profit of $63.7 million, up 28.7% from $49.5 million.
Quebecor consolidates the financial results of its Quebecor Media subsidiary, in which it holds a 75.4% interest. In the third quarter, revenue at the company’s News Media division fell 8.7% to $208 million while operating income was up 14.7% to $25.8 million. The Broadcasting unit more than doubled its operating income to $15.2 million.
At Videotron, telecom revenue rose 5.1% to $683 million as the company reported 26,900 wireless additions for the quarter. Revenue was also up for its mobile telephony service ($13.0 million or 28.9%), Internet access ($12.0 million or 6.2%), cable telephony ($6.0 million or 5.3%), and cable television ($1.5 million or 0.6%). Operating income increased 8.2% to $329 million.
Videotron's revenue-generating units increased by 43,500 in the third quarter, well below the 101,100 recorded in the same quarter of 2012.
“The News Media and Broadcasting segments grew their operating income in the third quarter of 2013," said president and CEO Robert Depatie, in the company’s news release. “Accordingly, the Telecommunications segment's growth was fully reflected in the overall improvement in the Corporation's consolidated results.
“The stronger results at our media subsidiaries show that the restructuring and repositioning initiatives we have taken over the past few years are bearing fruit. Financial transactions that create value for shareholders, carried out since the beginning of 2012, also contributed to the 28.7% increase in adjusted income from continuing operations."
The Board of Directors of Quebecor declared a quarterly dividend of $0.025 per share on Class A shares and Class B shares, payable on December 17, 2013 to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 22, 2013.
