The president and CEO of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau, took advantage of the company’s annual meeting of shareholders on Thursday to denounce “the constant obstruction of big three to any form of competition” in the field of telecommunications.
With the acquisition of Freedom a year ago, Quebecor “established itself as the fourth major national wireless service provider in Canada,” he recalled.
This obstruction by the three telecommunications giants “must stop,” he said, without naming them. And the CRTC must continue to put in place tools to allow us to “fight on equal terms with the existing oligopoly,” added Mr. Péladeau.
The three major telecommunications companies that serve the majority of Canadians are BCE, Rogers Communications and Telus.
In his speech to shareholders, Mr. Péladeau also attacked the financial support that Radio-Canada receives, as well as governments.
“It is difficult to understand, very difficult to understand, the choice of governments not to extend the tax credit for journalistic labor to the television news sector. Once again, they choose to create two classes of journalists, between writing and television, when it is the entire work of journalists that should be supported,” he argued.
If the telecommunications sector is doing well, it is different for the media sector, and therefore for the TVA Group. Mr. Péladeau spoke of “unbearable pressure” which forced TVA, in recent months, to take measures to reduce its operating costs, including a reduction in the workforce by 600 employees.
“The situation remains critical, considering the drop in advertising revenues which is affecting the entire media industry,” he said. He compared this to the fact that “CBC Radio-Canada recently received $42 million in compensation for lost advertising revenue.”
The meeting was also an opportunity to highlight the memory of former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney, who died in February, who long chaired the board of directors of Quebecor. This also marked the arrival in office of Sylvie Lalande at the head of the council.
Rising results
On a financial level, Mr. Péladeau welcomed the “excellent results” of Quebecor, generated mainly by the telecommunications sector, in particular by the acquisition of Freedom in 2023 which represented “a major shift”.
Thus, for the first quarter of fiscal 2024, Quebecor posted consolidated revenues of $1.36 billion, up 22.2% compared to the same period in 2023.
The telecommunications sector recorded revenues of $1.18 billion, an increase of $254 million compared to the corresponding period in 2023.
Consolidated net income attributable to shareholders reached $173.2 million or 75 cents per share.
The media sector, however, continues to face difficult times. TVA Group recorded a drop of $6.9 million in revenue, or 5.1%, compared to the first quarter of last year.
Also, as part of the deployment of wireless coverage in Quebec, Videotron will proceed with “the construction of at least 37 new mobile telephone infrastructures in Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the Laurentians, as part of a partnership with the government of Quebec,” underlined Mr. Péladeau.