(Montreal) Cogeco reported increases in profits and revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 on Thursday, welcoming the performance of its telecommunications sector in Canada and the United States.
The telecommunications company reported after-market earnings of $123.8 million, of which $42.1 million, or $2.67 per diluted share, was attributable to owners of the society. This is up from profits of $119.1 million and $38.5 million, or $2.41 per diluted share, for the corresponding period of fiscal 2022.
Revenues increased by 6.0% to reach 789.7 million. In Canada, revenues in the telecommunications sector increased by 4.8%, mainly due to the cumulative impact of the addition of high-speed Internet service customers in the prior year, a combination of value-added products higher and price increases.
US telecommunications revenue increased 7.4%, but on a constant exchange rate basis decreased 0.1%. These stable revenues at a constant exchange rate stem from a combination of higher value products and price increases, offset by the shrinking customer base in Ohio, the company explained.
Cogeco also reported that its revenues within the media sector increased by 2.5%.
President and CEO Philippe Jetté said in a press release that the company’s objectives were met during the first quarter of fiscal 2023, which ended on November 30.
“Our business unit in the telecommunications sector in Canada, Cogeco Connexion, posted the expected results,” said Mr. Jetté. We continued to connect new homes to our network as part of the fibre-to-the-home network expansion in Quebec, and we are starting to see the positive effects. »
In the United States, Breezeline’s first quarter financial results were in line with expectations, according to Jetté, as a mix of high-value products offset an expected decline in subscribers in Ohio, primarily in due to the remaining impact of the migration of customer management and billing systems.
“As for our broadcasting activities, although the market remains difficult, the performance of Cogeco Media has been in line with our expectations, and we have continued to expand our multi-platform audio content options by focusing on digital advertising technology solutions. In addition, the results of the Numeris ranking carried out in the fall once again confirmed our leadership position in the market,” concluded Mr. Jetté.