BCE’s Q2 Profits Rise 6.1% Helped by Astral Media Acquisition
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
BCE Inc.’s net earnings attributable to common shareholders were $606 million, up 6.1% in the second fiscal quarter, from $571 million in Q2 2013.
BCE revenue grew 4.4% to $5,220 million and adjusted EBITDA was up 3.8% to $2,144 million in Q2 2014. This reflected stronger year-over-year financial performance at Bell, partly offset by modest year-over-year declines in revenue and adjusted EBITDA at Bell Aliant.
There was a continued strong contribution to free cash flow from Bell Media with revenue up 36.1% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 34.6%, reflecting inclusion of Astral Media.
Operating revenues increased 4.4 per cent to $5.22 billion as company booked higher advertising and subscriber fee revenues from its Astral assets.
However, advertising revenue growth in Q2 was moderated by general softness in the TV advertising market, a shift in customer spending to online services, and other factors including fewer NHL hockey playoff games on TSN compared to last year and a move of advertising dollars from 2014 FIFA World Cup Soccer to CBC.
Bell Media division Astral Out-of-Home announced its acquisition of Macdonald Outdoor Advertising Inc. in June, marking Astral Out-of-Home’s entry into Alberta and the national expansion of its focus on large-format digital advertising.
George Cope, BCE’s CEO, says that the media segment continued to experience weakness in the advertising market, although he said Bell’s numbers suggest the company is “competing very well in the Canadian marketplace.”
Follow DailyDOOH