Cabovisão pulls down Cogeco second quarter

Portuguese cable operator Cabovisão’s performance in the second quarter of its fiscal 2010 year continued to suffer from the intense competition in the market.

Cabovisão had 780,496 RGUs as of February 28, up 21,508 on the previous quarter. The company lost 740 basic cable subscribers, an improvement on the loss of 11,908 for the same period last year. Digital subscribers rose by 12,189 to 131,056 (a smaller increase than the same quarter the previous year), while broadband internet subscribers rose by 5,793 to 154,616.

Cabovisão’s owner, Canadian cable operator Cogeco, posted a quarterly profits rise and announced it is eyeing a number of new acquisitions. However, the company also saw revenues at Cabovisao fall by 20% as a result of pay-TV pricing wars in Portugal. The Portuguese unit turned in revenue of C$48.967m (€36.63m), down from C$61.24m last year. Operating income before amortisation was C$8.018m, down from C$17.818m.

Cabovisão is currently in a dispute with the Portuguese authorities over withheld taxes, which led to Cogeco issuing a credit of €2.2m to guarantee payment if Cabovisão is forced to pay the full amount.