TORONTO – Corus Entertainment’s acquisition of Shaw Media appears to paying off as the company reported a 72% lift in profits and a 105% jump in revenues for its first quarter ended November 30, 2016.
The company said Wednesday that net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter was $71.1 million, up from the $41.3 million posted in the same period last year, which includes business acquisition, integration and restructuring costs of $13.2 million. Adjusting for the impact of these items resulted in an adjusted net income attributable to shareholders of $80.8 million.
Consolidated revenues for the quarter of $468.0 million more than doubled from $228.3 million year-over-year, while consolidated segment profit of $192.0 million was up 100% from $95.9 million last year.
"We are off to a solid start to fiscal 2017 as we begin to realize the benefits of the Company's success in executing our integration strategy and advancing our strategic priorities," said president and CEO Doug Murphy, in the news release. "Our Q1 results reflect meaningful improvements in our cost structure, with solid segment profit margins and subscriber revenue growth offset by transitional advertising revenue softness, as anticipated. In fiscal 2017, our resolute focus on deleveraging the balance sheet and delivering on our integration synergy goals will provide a strong value proposition to our shareholders."
Corus’ television segment revenues for the quarter were $425.6 million, up 132% from $183.7 million in the same period last year, though down 5% on a pro forma basis. (Pro forma results reflect the inclusion of Shaw Media and the exclusion of the company’s Pay TV business in Q1 2016). Radio revenues fell 5% to $42.4 million from $44.6 million .
Television segment profit jumped 109% to $184.4 million from $88.0 million year-over-year (down 3% on a pro forma basis), while radio segment profit grew 4% to $13.3 million from $12.8 million.
Other highlights from Corus’ Q1 financial results include:
Television
– Advertising revenues increased 269% in Q1 2017 (down 7% on a pro forma basis);
– Subscriber revenues increased 45% in Q1 2017 (up 6% on a pro forma basis);
– Merchandising, distribution and other revenues decreased 20% in Q1 2017 (down 33% on a pro forma basis);
Radio
– Segment profit margin of 31% in Q1 2017, compared to 29% in Q1 2016.
