Quebecor is counting heavily on the confirmation of its purchase of Freedom, Shaw’s wireless telephony subsidiary, the acquisition of which is still awaiting the regulatory green light, to drive its growth.
“We hope that this transaction will be concluded as soon as possible so that Canadians can benefit from a much better environment than the one in which they have been forced to suffer for so long,” said the President and CEO of Quebecor. , Pierre Karl Péladeau, in a conference call with market analysts, Thursday.
Mr. Péladeau had just presented mixed results for the company for the fourth quarter of 2022. Quebecor on Thursday reported a year-over-year decline in net income attributable to shareholders in the fourth quarter, but noted that compared to fiscal year 2021, there had been an increase for the whole of last year.
The acquisition of Freedom “represents a springboard to a new era of growth for Quebecor,” maintained the CEO of the company, and its approval should not delay, according to him. “We expect a quick resolution in line with the repeated public statements by the Minister of Industry [François-Philippe Champagne], which has made it very clear that it wants and intends to obtain real competition in telecoms in Canada. »
“Our plans are ready and we are ready to go, ready to create real and lasting dynamic competition in Ontario and Western Canada,” he continued.
Unfair competition
Before presenting the financial results, Pierre Karl Péladeau launched into a long diatribe, repeating the complaints he has been raising for several years, namely that Quebecor operates in an environment of unfair competition from Radio-Canada and suffers Bell’s unfair treatment of the distribution of its company’s television channels. He once again denounced the unequal struggle waged by the Web giants, who derive revenue from content that they appropriate for free at the expense of local producers.
As for the results themselves, the Quebec communications giant specifies that in the last quarter, net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $142.5 million, or $0.62 per share, down $18 million. , or $0.05 per share, from the same quarter of 2021. Quebecor’s revenue rose 0.1% fourth quarter over quarter to $1.19 billion.
Full-year 2022 net income attributable to shareholders was $599.7 million, or $2.55 per share, up $21.3 million, or $0.17 per share , compared to the previous year. The company’s revenue, however, fell over the same period, by $22.5 million, or 0.5%, to $4.53 billion. Revenues decreased by 16.8 million in the Telecommunications sector and by 20.6 million in the Media sector.
Lower profitability for VAT
Groupe TVA, which is owned by Quebecor, generated adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization of 19.4 million in 2022, compared to 80.3 million the previous year. On this subject, Pierre Karl Péladeau explains that a decline in profitability affects the industry in which TVA Group operates. Last week, Quebecor announced the abolition of a total of approximately 240 positions at Groupe TVA, NumériQ, Quebecor Expertise Média and Quebecor Content, or approximately 10% of the combined workforce of these four entities.
On Wednesday, Quebecor’s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share on Class A shares and Class B shares, which will be paid on April 4.