MONTREAL – Profits at Cogeco Inc. were up by 20.4% for its first quarter of 2012, largely on the strength of its Canadian operations.
The Montreal-based company said Thursday that profits for the period ended November 30, 2011 were $47.9 million, up from $39.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Consolidated revenues were $387.5 million, a 13.4% increase from last year, while revenues for its Canadian operations were up 9.8% to $315.4 million.
Cogeco's primary service units (the sum of its television, high speed Internet and telephony service customers, formerly reported as RGUs) in its cable subsidiary increased 1.8% to reach 2,609,683, mainly as a result of targeted marketing initiatives in its Canadian operations and of the continuing interest for high definition television service which offset the loss in its European operations resulting primarily from a decreased demand for services.
Cable revenue increased by 8% to reach $356.9 million when compared to the prior year. In Canada, Cogeco Cable ended the quarter with 155,218 basic and 727,219 digital subscribers, 618,499 Internet subscribers and 442,712 telephony customers, for a total of 1,943,648 Canadian PSUs.
Revenue from the company’s radio activities improved by $19.4 million in the first quarter to reach $30.6 million, mainly as a result of its acquisition of new stations in Quebec.
“Although our quarterly performance was even better than last year's, we must stay the course with our vigilant and disciplined approach to operating controls given the economic uncertainty in world markets," said president and CEO Louis Audet, in a statement.
