TORONTO – Despite an increase in revenue led by its television segment, Corus Entertainment saw its first quarter profits tumble by $99 million over the same period last year.
Consolidated revenues for the three months ended November 30, 2014 were $227.1 million, up slightly from $226.0 million last year, while consolidated segment profit increased 1% from $92.3 million to $93.3 million year-over-year.
Net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter plunged to $51.9 million from $150.9 million last year, which included charges related to a non-cash gain of $127.9 million resulting from the re-measurement to fair value of the company’s 50% interest in Teletoon which was held prior to consolidation on September 1, 2013, business acquisition, integration and restructuring costs of $21.9 million, an increase in the purchase price obligation of $7.3 million and investment impairment charges of $3.3 million.
Corus’ television segment revenues for the quarter were $181.5 million, up 2% from $177.9 million last year, while radio revenues fell 5% to $45.6 million from $48.1 million. Television segment profit increased 2% to $83.8 million from $82.5 million year-over-year, while radio segment profit plunged 19% to $12.8 million from $15.8 million last year.
Free cash flow fell to $33.4 million from $49.6 million in the same period of fiscal 2014.
Other highlights from Corus’ financial results include:
Television
– Specialty advertising revenues increased 1%;
– Subscriber revenues increased 8%;
– Merchandising, distribution and other revenues dropped 14%;
– Segment profit margin of 46%.
Radio
– Segment profit margin of 28%.
“In the first quarter, the company’s recent acquisitions drove consolidated revenue and segment profit growth in a soft advertising market”, said president and CEO John Cassaday, in a statement. “In addition, we continued to deliver strong ratings in Television, particularly on our Women’s and Family networks. Looking forward, signs of a recovery in television advertising demand are materializing and we expect this to gain traction as the year progresses. We are also encouraged by our recent repositioning of key large market Radio stations, which is starting to translate into improved ratings, particularly in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. Importantly, we are making good progress on our key strategic priorities, which will further strengthen our business going forward.”
