Pierre Karl Péladeau, the head of Quebecor which owns Videotron, Fizz, and Freedom Mobile, has firmly rejected any idea of selling the company’s cell towers. Responding to Telus’s recent move, where they sold nearly half of their towers for 1.26 billion dollars to the Caisse de dépôt, Péladeau dismissed the option during the earnings call. He described it as a “quick fix” and a financially risky bet in the long run.
Unlike the strong trend seen in the US and Europe, Quebecor plans to fully finance its infrastructure on its own. “Our financial health allows us to do so,” the CEO emphasized, underlining the group’s independent strength.
Mixed results despite mobile growth.
The latest quarter partly confirmed this resilience. On the mobile side, Quebecor gained a solid 72,000 new subscribers. However, this positive development was overshadowed by a loss of 3,200 internet customers in a fiercely competitive cable market, especially in Quebec where Bell is aggressively fighting on prices. Analysts described the results as “mixed.”
Another concern is the media division TVA, which continues to struggle. Fortunately for Quebecor, telecom now accounts for more than 85 percent of its revenue. Overall, Quebecor performed well. Net profit rose by 4.9 percent to 217.7 million dollars even though revenues slightly declined by 0.5 percent to 1.4 billion dollars. Still, the stock market was not convinced. The shares dropped about 3.5 percent midday on the TSX.
