Cogeco profits fall as subs and revenues climb

Cogeco Cable Inc. recorded higher revenues, increased subscribers and lower profits in its first fiscal quarter of 2013, the company said. In a quarterly report released Monday, Cogeco said its revenues for the three-month period that ended Nov. 30, 2012 climbed to $327.9 million on the backs of increased Canadian subscribers, up four per cent from $315.4 million in the same quarter in the previous year. At the same time, it said its first quarter profits fell to $42.2 million, down from $43 million in the same period a year earlier due to an increase in income taxes, costs associated with its acquisition of Atlantic Broadband Inc., and the disposition of its former Portuguese subsidiary Cabovisao. Cogeco completed its $1.36-billion US acquisition of U.S. cableco Atlantic Broadband in early December 2012. The company’s free cash flow was also down in the quarter, going from $19.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 to $17 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Cable subscribers in Canada grew by 15,080 in the first quarter bringing Cogeco’s total consolidated customer count to 2,478,887 on Nov. 30. That number included 494,674 subscribers it gained through its acquisition of Atlantic Broadband, the company said. In the release, Cogeco said its operating income before depreciation and amortization increased by 11.6 per cent in the quarter to $147.1 million. That number was up from $132 million in the same quarter the previous year, the release said. “I am very pleased with our overall positive results, clearly demonstrating that the combination of our customer service efforts, our marketing strategies, along with our cost control initiatives have produced the expected positive effects on our financial results,” Louis Audet, president and CEO of Cogeco, said in a statement.

Cogeco profits fall as subs and revenues climb

Brief | January 15, 2013

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