Mining & Metals
Quebecor Reports Q1 Beast; Amends NCIB; But "Extremely Cautious" On "Crisis" In Media Industry
Canadian telco giant Quebecor (QBR-A.TO, QBR-B.TO) said Thursday it remains "extremely cautious due to the deep, ongoing structural crisis in the media industry" even as it reported a rise in adjusted net income and revenue for the first quarter, beating analysts' expectations on both, while it also amended its normal course issuer bid.For the three months ended March 31, 2026, the company reported adjusted net income of $219.5 million or adjusted net income per basic share of $0.97 compared with $185.1 million or adjusted EPS of $0.80, a year earlier. The result beat a consensus estimate compiled by FactSet of $0.93 EPS.Revenue for the quarter increased to $1.40 billion compared with near $1.34 billion, a year-ago, beating a consensus estimate compiled by FactSet of near $1.37 billion."While we are pleased with these results, we remain extremely cautious due to the deep, ongoing structural crisis in the media industry," said Quebecor Chief Executive Pierre Karl Peladeau. "The dominance of GAFAM over the advertising market, cord-cutting, drastically reduced support from the Canada Media Fund, unfair competition from CBC/Radio-Canada and the heavy regulatory burden imposed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission continue to weaken private broadcasters.""Facing these persistent challenges, a concerted effort by all stakeholders -- governments, the CRTC, industry associations and unions -- is needed to rebuild a viable model that reflects market realities and preserve our collective ability to produce and deliver news, entertainment and sports content to domestic audiences and support the ecosystem that depends on it," added Peladeau.Its board also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share on its Class A Shares and Class B Shares, unchanged from the prior quarter, payable on June 23, to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 29.Quebecor is amending its NCIB in order to increase the maximum number of Class B Subordinate Voting Shares (with voting rights) that may be repurchased, from 5 million and representing 3.2% of the issued and outstanding as of August 1st, 2025, to 7 million and representing approximately 4.5%. No other terms of the NCIB have been amended.
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