- Revenue increased by 8.3%, or $44.5 million, to reach $582.9 million;

- Adjusted EBITDA(1) increased by $21.2 million, or 9.0%, to reach $255.2 million compared to the same period last year; and

- A quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share was declared, an increase of 15.7% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2015.

/EINPresswire.com/ -- MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 01/12/16 -- Today, COGECO Inc. (TSX: CGO) ("COGECO" or the "Corporation") announced its financial results for the first quarter ended November 30, 2015, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS").

For the first quarter of fiscal 2016:

--  Revenue increased by $44.5 million, or 8.3%, to reach $582.9 million
    driven by growth in the Cable and Enterprise data services segment
    mainly through the improvement of its American cable services operations
    combined with favorable foreign exchange rates compared to the same
    period of last year and the improvement in the radio broadcasting and
    out-of-home advertising business activities;

--  Adjusted EBITDA increased by $21.2 million, or 9.0%, to reach $255.2
    million compared to the same period of fiscal 2015 as a result of the
    improvement in the Cable and Enterprise data services segment combined
    with favorable foreign exchange rates compared to the same period of
    last year and improvement in the radio broadcasting and out-of-home
    advertising business activities;

--  Profit for the period amounted to $66.8 million of which $25.2 million,
    or $1.51 per share, was attributable to owners of the Corporation
    compared to profit for the period of $65.4 million for the first quarter
    on fiscal 2015 of which $26.8 million, or $1.60 per share, was
    attributable to the owners of the Corporation. The increase in profit is
    mostly attributable to the improvement of adjusted EBITDA, partly offset
    by increases in depreciation and amortization and income taxes. The
    earnings per share for the quarter was negatively impacted as a result
    of lower management fees paid by Cogeco Cable Inc. to the Corporation
    resulting from the Amended and Restated Management Services Agreement
    which became effective on September 1, 2015. The management fees are now
    payable on a monthly basis. In the previous fiscal year, management fees
    were fully paid in the first quarter contributing to lower profit
    attributable to owners of the Corporation for the second, third and
    fourth quarters;

--  Free cash flow(1)reached $40.9 million compared to $70.7 million, a
    decrease of $29.8 million, or 42.1%, compared to the same quarter of the
    prior year resulting from a timing difference in the acquisitions of
    property, plant and equipment and an increase in current income taxes,
    partly offset by the improvement of adjusted EBITDA;

--  Cash flow from operating activities reached $90.2 million compared to
    $19.0 million, representing an increase of $71.2 million compared to
    fiscal 2015 first-quarter. The increase is mostly attributable to the
    improvement in adjusted EBITDA combined with a decrease in changes in
    non-cash activities primarily due to changes in working capital, partly
    offset by the increase in income taxes paid;

--  A quarterly eligible dividend of $0.295 per share was paid to the
    holders of subordinate and multiple voting shares, an increase of $0.04
    per share, or 15.7%, compared to an eligible dividend of $0.255 per
    share paid in the first quarter of fiscal 2015;

--  At its January 12, 2016 meeting, the Board of Directors of COGECO
    declared a quarterly eligible dividend of $0.295 per share for multiple
    voting and subordinate voting shares payable on February 9, 2016;

--  On January 5, 2016, the Corporation's subsidiary, Cogeco Diffusion,
    completed the sale of its subsidiary Metromedia CMR Plus Inc. ("Cogeco
    Metromedia"), an out-of-home advertising company, to Bell Media Inc.,
    for a cash consideration of $47.5 million, which is subject to a post-
    closing net working capital adjustment; and

--  On December 8, 2015, the Corporation's subsidiary, Cogeco Cable Inc.,
    amended its Term Revolving Facility. Under the term of the amendment,
    the maturity was extended by an additional year and consequently, will
    mature on January 22, 2021.


(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").

"Overall, our results for the first quarter of the new fiscal year have been satisfactory," declared Louis Audet, President and Chief Executive Officer of COGECO Inc. "Our American cable services subsidiary, Atlantic Broadband, has successfully completed the integration of its acquisition, in Connecticut and it continues to report strong results, helping us consolidate our presence in the American market. Meanwhile, our Canadian cable services subsidiary continues to report satisfactory results."

"At Cogeco Peer 1, significant portions of the integration of our business units are complete," continued Mr. Audet. "Our teams continue to work diligently to build robust and competitive product portfolios as well as sales and go-to-market strategies. I am confident that the efforts we are putting into this investment now, under the guidance of the strong leadership team currently in place, will help us achieve the growth we expect from this sector."

"As for our subsidiary, Cogeco Diffusion, I'm pleased to report that our results continue to be very positive, thanks to the strong performance of our radio and our transit display advertising. On the radio side, Cogeco's talk radio stations are number one in both Montreal (98,5 fm) and Quebec city (FM 93) markets," concluded Louis Audet.

ABOUT COGECO

COGECO Inc. (corpo.cogeco.com) is a diversified holding corporation which operates in the communications and media sectors. Through its Cogeco Cable Inc. subsidiary, COGECO provides its residential and business customers with video, Internet and telephony services through its two-way broadband fibre networks. Cogeco Cable Inc. operates in Canada under the Cogeco Cable Canada name in Quebec and Ontario, and in the United States under the Atlantic Broadband name in western Pennsylvania, south Florida, Maryland/Delaware, South Carolina and eastern Connecticut. Through Cogeco Peer 1, Cogeco Cable Inc. provides its business customers with a suite of information technology services (colocation, network connectivity, managed hosting, cloud services and managed IT services), through its 21 data centres, extensive FastFiber Network™ and more than 50 points-of-presence in North America and Europe. Through its subsidiary Cogeco Diffusion, COGECO owns and operates 13 radio stations across most of Quebec with complementary radio formats serving a wide range of audiences as well as Cogeco News, its news agency. COGECO's subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CGO). The subordinate voting shares of Cogeco Cable Inc. are also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CCA).

Analyst Conference Call: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. (Eastern
                         Standard Time)
                         Media representatives may attend as listeners only.

                         Please use the following dial-in number to have
                         access to the conference call by dialing five
                         minutes before the start of the conference:

                         Canada/United States Access Number: 1 800-505-9573
                         International Access Number: + 1 416-204-9498
                         Confirmation Code: 6162342


                         By Internet at corpo.cogeco.com/cgo/en/investors/

                         A rebroadcast of the conference call will be
                         available until January 19, 2016, by dialing:

                         Canada and United States access number: 1 888-203-
                         1112
                         International access number: + 1 647-436-0148
                         Confirmation code: 6162342



SHAREHOLDERS' REPORT
Three-month period ended November 30, 2015

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Quarters ended November 30,

                                                  2015       2014     Change
(in thousands of dollars, except
 percentages and per share data)                     $          $          %
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operations
Revenue                                        582,903    538,383        8.3
Adjusted EBITDA(1)                             255,154    233,983        9.0
Integration, restructuring and acquisition
 costs                                           2,030          -          -
Profit for the period                           66,831     65,363        2.2
Profit for the period attributable to
 owners of the Corporation                      25,197     26,774      (5.9)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash Flow
Cash flow from operating activities             90,247     18,999          -
Cash flow from operations(1)                   188,168    174,252        8.0
Acquisitions of property, plant and
 equipment, intangible and other assets        147,230    103,524       42.2
Free cash flow(1)                               40,938     70,728     (42.1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Financial Condition(2)
Property, plant and equipment                2,045,180  2,005,461        2.0
Total assets                                 6,095,944  6,205,795      (1.8)
Indebtedness(3)                              3,350,270  3,361,948      (0.3)
Equity attributable to owners of the
 Corporation                                   624,259    603,598        3.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Per Share Data(4)
Earnings per share
  Basic                                           1.51       1.60      (5.6)
  Diluted                                         1.50       1.59      (5.7)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1)  The indicated terms do not have standardized definitions prescribed by
     the International Financial Reporting Standards ("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 MD&A.
(2)  At November 30, 2015 and August 31, 2015.
(3)  Indebtedness is defined as the aggregate of bank indebtedness,
     principal on long-term debt, balance due on a business combination and
     obligations under derivative financial instruments.
(4)  Per multiple and subordinate voting share.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contacts:
Source:
COGECO Inc.
Patrice Ouimet
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
514-764-4700

Information: Media
Rene Guimond
Senior Vice-President, Public Affairs and Communications
514-764-4700

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.