YPG Still Growing

Canada’s Yellow Pages Group just released its 2Q and first-half numbers. On a comparable basis, its 2Q directory revenue growth rate was 4.7 percent and EBITDA was up 8 percent.

The company’s guidance for the full year is top-line growth of 4 percent to 5 percent in the directory business and 6 percent to 7 percent in the "vertical media" business (classifieds). EBITDA growth ranges are 4 percent to 7 percent and 7 percent to 9 percent, respectively.

We will listen to the earnings call this afternoon for more details. One area of interest is how or whether CEO Marc Tellier will comment on the beating YPG’s unit price has taken from a report by Veritas saying YPG’s core directory business is weakening, citing declining page counts as evidence. Several banks came to YPG’s defense, saying the page counts were the wrong metric to use in judging the company’s fortunes.

As of this writing, YPG’s unit price was C$15.30, representing a partial recovery from its dip following the Veritas report.