Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) will be taking a US$1.2 billion non-cash impairment charge to goodwill and intangible assets related to its U.S. cable segment, Breezeline, when it reports its third-quarter results, notes National Bank.
Analyst Adam Shine, who has an outperform rating and $75.00 price target on the shares, said, "Should anyone be surprised by this news? No, given the performance of Breezeline and the U.S. competitive landscape that has evolved over the last few years."
"Now the question is naturally what comes next and how much deja vu is at hand," Shine adds, noting that Cogeco took a $226 million impairment charge on its Portuguese cable business, Cabovisao in July 2011 and then announced a sale of the business in February 2012.
In the case of Cogeco Peer 1, its data-center business, its sale was announced in February 2019, but an impairment charge of $450 million was taken several years earlier, in 2016.
"We'll see what management has to say about the Breezeline impairment in six weeks. Based on precedent, however, we wonder if this is a signal of things to come within a year or in the next 3 years," Shine writes.
Price: $65.84, Change: $-1.39, Percent Change: -2.06%