Business
Customer growth drives Cogeco Cable's financial results
Customer growth drives Cogeco Cable's financial results.
About this update from Cogeco Communications Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nMONTREAL, Oct. 16 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, Cogeco Cable Inc. (TSX: CCA)\nannounced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended\nAugust 31, 2006.\n\nGrowth by business acquisition\n\nWith the acquisition of Cabovisao - Televisao por Cabo, S.A., (Cabovisao)\nas a contributing factor, the number of revenue-generating units(1) (RGUs)\njumped from about 1,348,000 at the beginning of the fiscal year to\napproximately 2,185,000 at the end of August 2006. \"The arrival of Cabovisao\nin our Corporation, with about 629,000 RGUs, is very promising,\" said Mr.\nLouis Audet, President and CEO of Cogeco Cable. \"We are in a very good\nposition to sustain growth, in Canada with more than 208,000 RGUs added to our\nbase as a result of the positive impact of our Digital Telephony service and,\nwith the well-trained and enthusiastic people in Portugal, who are working to\ngrow our position in that market.\"\n\nCustomer growth drives progress\n\nDuring the fourth quarter, the Canadian operations reported strong RGU\nincreases, adding more than 44,000 compared to about 10,000 for the same\nperiod last year and growing revenue by 12.7% while operating income before\namortization improved by 11.8%. On a consolidated basis, revenue increased by\n24.8%, operating income before amortization by 20% while net income more than\ntripled to reach $34 million.\n\n2007 projections\n\nFor the Canadian operations, management is maintaining its 2007\npreliminary projections of last July. In Portugal, we expect to add more than\n75,000 RGUs, essentially equally divided between basic cable, high speed\nInternet (HSI), and telephony. Revenue generated from the Portuguese\noperations should exceed $215 million and operating income before amortization\nshould reach approximately $70 million, an operating margin of 33%.\nConsequently, Cogeco Cable's operating margin should be approximately 38%.\n\"For fiscal 2007, all Cogeco Cable employees, here and abroad will aim to\nincrease customer satisfaction through improved customer service and enhanced\nproduct and service offerings. We will maintain tight controls over the\nCorporation's costs and we will work to continue to improve our business\nprocesses. With regards to our new Portuguese subsidiary, the Cabovisao\nintegration plan is well advanced and we believe Cabovisao will contribute to...