MONTREAL – Consolidated revenues totalled $447.6 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2006 at Astral Media, an increase of 9% over last year’s same period. Consolidated revenues were $155.5 million for the third quarter, ended May 31st, up 8%.
Astral owns 29 radio stations in Quebec and Eastern Canada as well as television assets like The Movie Network, Family, Z, Super Écran, Canal Indigo and half of Teletoon/Télétoon.
For the first nine months, EBITDA increased 12% to $141.4 million. EBITDA was up 10% to $54.2 million in the third quarter. Cash flow from continuing operations rose 12% for the first nine months of the year totalling $101.6 million while cash flow from continuing operations also rose 7% to $38.8 million in the third quarter.
"This was a solid third quarter for Astral Media," said Ian Greenberg, president and CEO. "For the first nine months, our television division continued to show consistent growth with a strong subscriber revenue increase of 8%, and ad revenue growth of 11% for the same timeframe. The radio group’s revenue was up 9% for the first nine months of the fiscal year. Outdoor is continuing to show strong results this year with revenue rising 16% over last year’s first nine months."
Greenberg added, "We are also very pleased to have increased our ownership share in Teletoon from 40% to 50%, giving us joint ownership of a very profitable and creative network that operates in both the English and the French-language markets, and which has consistently delivered excellent results."
