TORONTO — Corus Entertainment’s first quarter of fiscal 2021 saw the company’s consolidated revenues decline 10% compared to the same quarter of 2020, but its television advertising revenues improved sequentially over the previous two quarters, according to its financial results released this morning.
For the three months ended November 30, 2020, Corus’ consolidated revenues decreased to $420.4 million, from $467.9 million in Q1 2020, and the company’s consolidated segment profit was $178.6 million in the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of 3% from $184.1 million last year.
The company’s television revenues decreased 9% to $392.1 million in the first quarter of 2021, compared to $430 million in the same quarter of 2020. However, the television segment reported a slight increase in profit totalling $179.6 million in Q1 2021, compared to $178.6 million in Q1 2020. The company said this 1% profit increase in its TV segment included $2.5 million of estimated Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) benefit.
Looking at television advertising specifically, Corus reported its TV ad revenues decreased 14% in Q1 2021, which is sequentially an improvement from TV advertising declines of 31% and 25% for the three months ended May 31, 2020 and August 31, 2020, respectively.
Corus also reported its subscriber revenues were flat year-over-year, totalling $123.7 million in the first quarter of both fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020.
Merchandising, distribution and other TV segment revenues increased 11% (or by $2.1 million) in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same quarter last year, Corus said.
“Our first quarter results reflect another consecutive quarter of sequential improvement in television advertising revenue, the impressive momentum of StackTV and ongoing growth in our international content licensing business,” said Doug Murphy, president and CEO of Corus Entertainment. “Once again, our strong free cash flow performance has improved our financial flexibility as we remain firmly focused on delivering consolidated revenue growth year over year. This promising start to the year coupled with the significant progress we are making to advance our strategic plan will position us extremely well as we emerge from the current climate as a new, stronger Corus.”
The company’s OTT TV brands, StackTV and Nick+, have together more than 400,000 subscribers, added the release.
Corus’ radio segment saw a 26% decrease in revenues to $28.3 million in Q1 2021, compared to $37.9 million in Q1 2020. However, this was also a sequential improvement from radio revenue declines of 53% and 43% for the third and fourth quarters of 2020, respectively.
For more information about Corus’ Q1 2021 financial results, please click here.
