TORONTO – Results in Corus’ radio division pulled down revenues and profits for its fourth quarter and fiscal 2013, the company reported Thursday.
Consolidated revenues for the year ended August 31, 2013 fell 5% to $803.5 million from $842.3 million last year. Consolidated segment profit was $270.0 million, down 7% from $290.0 million last year. Net income attributable to shareholders for the year was $159.9 million, up 8% compared to $148.7 million last year.
The company noted that net income attributable to shareholders for the current fiscal year includes a charge for debt refinancing of $25.0 million, the gain related to the sale of its non-controlling interest in Food Network Canada of $55.4 million, broadcast license impairments of $5.7 million, business acquisition, integration and restructuring costs of $7.3 million and investment impairment charges of $7.1 million. Removing the impact of these items results in an adjusted net income attributable to shareholders of $138.6 million for the current year.
Consolidated revenues for the three months ended August 31st were $193.6 million, down 1% from $195.6 million last year. Consolidated segment profit was $54.4 million, down 11% from $60.9 million last year due to $5.1 million increase in corporate costs which the company explained as the achievement of performance incentives and higher share-based compensation.
Net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter fell 49% to $11.9 million compared to $23.3 million last year. This includes an impairment charge related to broadcast license impairments of $5.7 million, business acquisition, integration and restructuring costs of $5.2 million and investment impairment charges of $7.1 million.
Other highlights from Corus’ financial results are as follows:
Television
– Segment revenues increased 1% in Q4 and decreased 5% for the fiscal year;
– Specialty advertising revenue increased 6% in Q4 and 2% for the fiscal year;
– Subscriber revenues increased 1% for Q4 and were flat for the fiscal year;
– Merchandising, distribution and other revenues declined 3% in Q4 and 24% for the fiscal year;
– Segment profit increased 4% in Q4 and decreased 5% for the fiscal year;
– Segment profit margin of 40% for the fiscal year; and
– Movie Central finished the fiscal year with 996,000 subscribers, up 20,000 from the prior year.
Radio
– Segment revenues decreased 8% in Q4 and 4% for the fiscal year;
– Segment profit(1) decreased 22% in Q4 and 4% for the fiscal year; and
– Segment profit margin of 30% for the fiscal year.
"Fiscal 2013 was a challenging year, but we made progress on a number of fronts, creating the foundation for strong growth moving forward," said president and CEO John Cassaday, in a statement. "We were pleased to see an increase in specialty advertising revenue across all of our core Television networks, ongoing ratings momentum, and continued gains in our Pay television business. These gains were offset by a decline in the fourth quarter in our Radio division and higher corporate costs. Our outlook for 2014 is positive and the fundamentals are in place for a strong year ahead. The recent reorganization of our leadership team will support our growth objectives and we are excited about the significant value that our pending acquisitions will bring to the business."
