CALGARY – The acquisition of CanWest plus some one time CRTC fees battered Shaw’s first quarter profits, driving them down 82%.
Shaw said Thursday that its net income for the three month period ended November 30, 2010 plunged to $20 million, compared to $114 million for the same period last year. The current period included a $139 million charge for the discounted value of the $180 million CRTC benefit obligation related to the acquisition of CanWest (now Shaw Media), plus a one-time CRTC Part II fee recovery fee. Consolidated revenue of $1.08 billion was up 19% over the comparable period last year.
The company also confirmed rumours that it would delay the rollout of its new wireless service until 2012, as Cartt.ca reported earlier.
Shaw lost 7,542 basic cable customers, ending the quarter with 2,326,766. It also recorded 1,713,135 digital customers; 1,837,618 Internet customers; and 1,146,148 digital phone lines. Shaw Cable revenue was up 7% for the three month period to $758 million.
Shaw Direct was down 1,539 customers to end the quarter with 904,257 satellite customers. Revenue in the division was $206 million, an increase of 3% over the comparable period last year.
Shaw said that revenue in the Media division for the period October 27, 2010 to November 30, 2010 was $125 million.
"Our performance for the first three months has us off to a solid start for the year”, said CEO Brad Shaw, in a statement. “Our financial results include a partial quarter for our new Media division. We have welcomed our additional 2,100 employees and are excited as we together begin to develop and capitalize on the opportunities to leverage content with our distribution systems."
Click here for more on Shaw’s financial results.
