Q3 2024 Cogeco Inc and Cogeco Communications Inc Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Cogeco Inc (CGECF) reported consolidated results in line with expectations, focusing on balancing subscriber growth with financial performance.
- The company added close to 12,000 new homes passed in the quarter, bringing the total to 239,000 homes passed since fiscal 2022, representing over 8% organic growth.
- Cogeco Inc (CGECF) launched its first AI chatbot, Charlie, in the US, which has successfully handled tens of thousands of customer interactions, exceeding expectations.
- The company's Canadian telecommunications business grew its Internet subscriber base by close to 6,000 customers, contributing to a 2.9% year-on-year EBITDA growth.
- Cogeco Media reported year-over-year growth in revenue, with radio advertising sales rebounding and digital advertising solutions contributing to revenue growth.
- The US Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) was discontinued, leading to a temporary impact on Internet subscriber figures, with 3,300 ACP subscriber losses in the quarter.
- Diluted earnings per share declined by 22.7% due to restructuring costs related to the new organizational structure.
- Free cash flow in constant currency declined by 16.3%, largely due to restructuring costs recorded in the quarter.
- The company's net debt to EBITDA ratio remained flat at 3.4 times, despite a significant payment for spectrum acquired last fall.
- The restructuring charges and organizational changes are expected to result in further costs in Q4, although they should be lower than the Q3 restructuring costs.
Good day, and welcome to Cogeco Inc and Cogeco Communications Inc Q3 2024 earnings conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Patrice Ouimet, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead, Mr. Ouimet.
Thank you. So good morning, everyone, and welcome to our third quarter conference call as usual. Before we begin the call, I'd like to remind listeners that today's discussion will include estimates and forward-looking information, and we ask that you review the cautionary language in the press releases issued yesterday and in our 2023 annual reports regarding our various risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ.
With that, I'll now pass the line to our CEO for the next panel for opening remarks.
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