MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable kicked off fiscal 2015 with “solid” first quarter financial results that included a 14.1% jump in profits.
For the first quarter ended November 30, 2014, the company said that revenue increased 4.6% to $497.0 million, up from $474.9 million last year, driven by growth of 1.8% in its Canadian cable services segment, 15.2% in the American cable services segment and 3.5% in the Enterprise data services segment. Revenue increased organically from most operating units combined with favorable foreign exchange rates in its foreign operations.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 3.5% to $218.9 million, compared to $211.5 million in the same period of the prior year. Profit for the period jumped 14.1% to $56.7 million, compared to $49.7 million in fiscal 2014, mainly attributable to the improvement of the adjusted EBITDA, partly offset by an increase in financial expense.
Primary service units (PSUs), which represent the sum of its television, high-speed Internet and telephony service customers, were 2.45 million of which 1.95 million are in Canada and 501,955 are in the United States.
In Canada, PSUs increased by 5,295 in the quarter, compared to a decrease of 4,620 year-over-year, primarily from additional high speed Internet services, partly offset by a slightly higher decrease in the television services.
At quarter end, Cogeco’s Canadian television customers totalled 789,686; high-speed Internet customers reached 676,802; and telephony service customers were 471,811.
Parent Cogeco Inc. posted first-quarter profits attributable to owners of the corporation of $26.8 million, up from $23.1 million in the year-earlier period, while revenue grew by 4.1% to $538.4 million from just under $517 million.
President and CEO Louis Audet described the launch of Cogeco TiVo Service in its Ontario footprint last October as “a game-changer in the Canadian cable market”, and said that it will launch the service in Quebec this spring.
“I am very pleased to report solid financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 as once again we've shown our ability to grow profitably despite intense competition from existing and new players, changing market dynamics and rapid technology advances," said Audet, in a statement. “We have begun our fiscal year with a strong performance and I am confident that Cogeco Cable will continue on its growth path and deliver on its 2015 projections.”
