Cogeco Releases its Results for the Third Quarter of Fiscal 2017

Cogeco (TSX:CGO) has announced its financial results for the third quarter ended May 31, 2017.
As quoted in the press release:

For the third quarter of fiscal 2017:

• Revenue increased by $25.6 million, or 4.5%, to reach $599.7 million driven by growth in the Communications segment;
• Adjusted EBITDA increased by $11.7 million, or 4.6%, to reach $264.8 million compared to the same period of fiscal 2016 as a result of the improvement in the Communications segment;
• Profit for the period amounted to $82.1 million of which $30.0 million, or $1.81 per share, was attributable to owners of the Corporation compared to a loss for the period of $381.9 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 of which $117.7 million, or $7.03 per share, was attributable to the owners of the Corporation. The profit progression resulted from last year’s non-cash pre-tax impairment of goodwill and intangible assets of $450 million and from the claims and litigations of $10.5 million which both occurred in the Communications segment. The remaining variation is mainly explained by the improvement of adjusted EBITDA combined with the decrease in depreciation and amortization, partly offset by the increase in income taxes;
• Free cash flow reached $109.6 million, an increase of $17.7 million, or 19.3%, compared to the same quarter of the prior year mainly due to the improvement of adjusted EBITDA combined with last year’s claims and litigations, partly offset by higher acquisitions of property, plant and equipment, intangible and other assets in the Communications segment;
• Cash flow from operating activities increased by $57.4 million, or 30.8%, to reach $243.6 million compared to fiscal 2016 third-quarter. The increase for the period is mostly attributable to the improvement in adjusted EBITDA, the decrease in income taxes paid and last year’s claims and litigations, partly offset by the decrease in changes in non-cash operating activities primarily due to changes in working capital;

(1)	The indicated terms do not have standardized definitions prescribed by IFRS and, therefore, may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. For more details, please consult the “Non-IFRS financial measures” section of the Management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”).

• A quarterly eligible dividend of $0.34 per share was paid in the third quarter to the holders of multiple and subordinate voting shares, an increase of 15.3%, compared to a quarterly eligible dividend of $0.295 per share paid in the third quarter of fiscal 2016.

Click here to read the full press release.