Lower ads sales drag TVA to a loss

MONTREAL – On Friday, Quebecor Media's TVA Group announced a net loss of $2.7 million for the first quarter of 2006, well off its Q1 2005 result - net income of $2.9 million. The decline was due in large part to the 7.3% decrease in advertising revenues for the company's television sector and to the reduced profitability of its publishing sector, said the company's press release. TVA reported an operating loss of $400,000 for the quarter, against operating income of $6.8 million for the same year-ago period. "Market fragmentation, the staging of the Winter Olympics and a difficult advertising market...