MONTREAL – "Once again, Quebecor’s very positive results were spearheaded by robust numbers in the cable segment, which continued to log strong customer growth for all its services," said Pierre Karl Peladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor Inc., in a press release announcing the company’s second quarter results today.
Quebecor’s second quarter 2008 (ended June 30th) revenues came in at $942.3 million, up 15.6% over the second quarter of 2007. Operating income rose 20.1% to $277 million.
Videotron’s operating income was up 25.1% to $182 million and quarter-over-quarter net customer growth was 51,300 for cable telephone service (to 743,000), 23,600 for cable Internet access (to 989,000), 7,800 for all cable television services combined – including 27,700 customer increase for illico digital TV (to 1.66 million), and 4,700 wireless phones were activated (for a total of 54,600).
The company sells Videotron branded phones under an MVNO agreement with Rogers. However, Quebecor was a major player in the recently completed advanced wireless spectrum auction and it plans to build its own network in Quebec.
"At the conclusion of the spectrum auction for Advanced Wireless Services, Quebecor Media held standing high bids on 17 operating licences, covering all of Quebec and part of the Toronto area. This is a key strategic development for Quebecor Media, since consumer demand for Advanced Wireless Services is expected to increase substantially in the coming years,” said Peladeau.
“With the addition of this product, Quebecor is poised to embark on a new round of growth by offering its cable segment customers a still more complete and competitive array of cable and telecommunications services."
More to come
