TVA Group to close two titles as part of Quebecor Media's 220 job cuts

The Quebecor Media Group has announced that it will be cutting 220 jobs, or nearly 8 per cent of its workforce. Some 125 of those jobs will be at the TVA Group Inc. and the magazine division will cease publication of two magazines: CHEZ Soi and Tellement bon. TVA Group is one of the largest broadcasters and publishers of French content in North America.

“In Quebec as elsewhere in the world, our industry is facing ongoing disruption,” Julie Tremblay, chief executive of Quebecor Media Group and TVA Group Inc, said in a statement. "We have therefore taken a number of initiatives over the past two years to adapt to the changes, including the creation of Quebecor Media Group, an integrated media company, and the acquisition and sale of various properties. Today it is clear that we must continue our transformation in order to further adjust structural costs and become more agile."  

Tremblay did not say what the likely cost of restructuring would be or what savings would result.

The cutbacks parallel the announcement in September that Rogers Communications Inc. will stop publishing four of its magazines in the new year and sell all of its French language and business-to-business publications. 

The TVA Group reported a $32.5 million net loss in the third quarter. 

Caisse is selling back half its holdings to Quebecor Media

Quebecor Media is buying back almost half of the share of its stock now held by the pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The caisse's share will shrink from 45.% to 24/6%. 

“Our intention was to take advantage of the window of opportunity created by the favourable conditions on the debt markets to increase our interest in Quebecor Media,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau, chief executive officer of both Quebecor Inc. and Quebecor Media.

Quebecor Inc. owns about 54% of Quebecor Media, which in its most recent quarter had revenues of $254 million,  is one of the largest broadcasters in Quebec through TVA Group Inc. and TVA is the largest publisher of French-language magazines in Canada. Its other division, Sun Media, is the largest newspaper publisher in Canada, with 43 dailies and more than 250 community weeklies. 

Recycling costs result in $32 million charge against earnings of Quebecor's TVA Group

The impact of the huge increases in recycling fees for magazines in Quebec has translated into a quarterly loss for its largest pulishing group, TVA Group Inc. According to a story in the Montreal Gazette, the company, which is the publishing division of Quebecor Media, had a loss of $1.66 a share in Q1, largely because of an impairment charge of $32.2 million logged to cover waste recovery fees for 2010, 2011 and 2012. 

President and CEO Pierre Dion said the new fees applied to magazines are arbitrary and “legally invalid.”

“They seriously compromise the financial viability and stability of an industry that makes a positive contribution to the cultural sector of our society,” Dion said in a statement.

“We are currently examining the legal remedies available to ensure that our rights are respected.”

The province of Quebec increased its charges for the Blue Box recycling program last June and, according to Magazines Canada calculations, publishers will see payments up about 340% in 2012, the year the industry is being expected to cover 90% of the costs of recycling magazines. 

The fees being charged to Quebec publishers are approximately seven times what is charged in Ontario and, under Bill 88, they can no longer use contra advertising to pay for their fees. The whole issue of U.S. and foreign magazines paying nothing towards the program has yet to be addressed.

Quebecor credits magazines and TV for increased revenues and profitability

Quebecor Media's TVA Group, the province's largest publisher of magazines, reported a $19.8 million profit in its latest quarter, on revenues of $133.4 million, crediting both its television and publishing sides.Profit amounted to 83 cents per share, for the last quarter of 2010, compared with a profit of $21.1 million, or 89 cents per share, a year earlier on revenue of $128.5 million.

The publishing division  -- which includes consumer magazines, community weeklies and daily newspapers -- saw operating income increase by 34% compared with the same quarter of last year, from $1,772,000 in 2009 to $2,374,000 in 2010. The television division's income increased by $6,035,000, or 28.2%, compared with the same quarter of last year. According to CEO Pierre Dion, the 6.3% growth in operating revenues for publishing sector reflects a 9% growth in advertising revenues. The profit margin was 12.3%, compared with 9.8% in the same quarter of 2009.

For the fiscal year ending December 31, operating income increased 7.2% to $76.2 million, compared with $71 million in 2009. Consolidated revenues totalled $448.2 million, compared with $439.0 million in 2009, a 2.1% increase. For the same period, the Corporation generated net income of $38.2 million, or $1.61 per share, compared with $49.1 million, or $2.05 per share, in 2009.

"We are pleased with the financial results for the fourth quarter and the financial year overall, as we posted growth in normalized operating income in both of those periods," Dion said. In addition to magazines, the company has a dominant Quebec broadcasting operation and is owner of SUN TV in Toronto.

Canoe sinks into Sun Media; CEO out, Peladeau now runs the whole show

Quebecor Media is rolling its Canoe interactive media division under Sun Media and putting its internet and newspaper operations under one management team, headed by Quebecor Media President and Chief Executive Officer Pierre Karl Peladeau.

"The current reality dictates that we must always be reinventing ourselves, and that's exactly what we're doing today. The integration of Canoe into Sun Media will optimize the strategic alignment and efficiency of the operations by providing strong, unified leadership and will accelerate our multimedia evolution, in particular by eliminating organizational silos that have become obsolete in the multi-platform era," said Quebecor Media President and Chief Executive Officer Pierre Karl Peladeau in a press release.

The statement said that the Canoe.ca brand and portal, as well as the jobboom.com, micasa.ca, autonet.ca, espacecanoe.ca, classifiedextra.ca, canoe.tv, canoeklix.ca and reseaucontact.com brands, will remain in place and the Canoe team will continue to support the various Internet initiatives of Quebecor Media's subsidiaries.

Peladeau, who will continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sun Media. Replaced is Bruno Leclaire, who has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Canoe and Vice-President, Interactive Media Division of Quebecor Media. Peladeau said that he hoped to find another role for Leclaire in a few months.

"Today, we are combining the strengths of two industry leaders. Pooling their assets, expertise and energy can only result in a winning combination for our customers," concluded Mr. Peladeau.

Quebecor Media Inc. is engaged in magazine publishing through TVA Publishing Inc. and book publishing through the Quebecor Media Book Group. Quebecor Media is a subsidiary of Quebecor Inc. Its Videotron Ltd. subsidiary is the largest cable operator in Quebec and a major internet service and telephone provider. Sun Media is Canada's largest publisher of newspapers. Through TVA Group Inc., it operates the largest French-language over-the-air television network in Quebec, a number of specialty channels and the English-language over-the-air station Sun TV.

Quebecor Media Q1 profit jumps 42.7%

Quebecor Media, the magazine, cable, new media and newspaper arm of Quebecor Inc. has announced an increase of its first quarter profit by 42.7 per cent to $58.8 million. It posted overall revenues of $877.1 million in the first quarter of this year, up 16.8 per cent over the same period last year.

"Once again, the excellent results were driven by sustained growth in the cable segment, which continued to register healthy customer increases in all its lines of business," said Quebecor Inc. president and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau in a statement.

The 21.4% bump in revenue at its newspaper and magazine segment was largely due to the acquisition of Osprey Media, a deal which closed in August 2007. Revenues increase 21.4 per cent to $267.4 million. First quarter revenue in the cable segment climbed 20 per cent to $430.6 million thanks to an increased number of customers and rate increases.

Quebecor Media is a 54.7%-owned subsidiary of Quebecor Inc.