TORONTO – Corus Entertainment saw revenues increase by 86% for its second quarter ended February 28, 2017, but rising costs helped to weigh down profits.
The company said Thursday that net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter was $24.9 million, well below the $102.2 million posted in the same period last year, which includes business acquisition, integration and restructuring costs of $0.9 million. Adjusting for the impact of this item resulted in an adjusted net income attributable to shareholders of $25.6 million.
Consolidated revenues for the quarter of $368.2 million jumped from $197.7 million year-over-year, while consolidated segment profit of $102.7 million increased 29% from $79.6 million last year.
“Corus delivered solid segment profit growth this quarter, driven by ongoing margin expansion,” said president and CEO Doug Murphy, in the news release. “As we celebrate our first year together, the continued momentum from our strong overall ratings performance, transformed cost structure and sequentially improving advertising revenue trends is further indication that Corus is right on track.”
Corus’ television segment revenues for the quarter were $335.9 million, up 106% from $163.4 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 6% to $32.3 million from $34.3 million.
Television segment profit grew 25% to $101.4 million from $81.4 million year-over-year (up 3% on a pro forma basis), while radio segment profit jumped 22% to $6.3 million from $5.2 million.
Other highlights from Corus’ Q2 financial results include:
Television
– Advertising revenues increased 330% in Q2 2017 (down 4% on a pro forma basis);
– Subscriber revenues increased 40% in Q2 2017 (up 1% on a pro forma basis);
– Merchandising, distribution and other revenues decreased 47% in Q2 2017 (down 44% on a pro forma basis);
– Segment profit margin of 30% in Q2 2017 compared to 50% in the prior year comparable period (28% on a pro forma basis).
Radio
– Segment profit margin of of 20% in Q2 2017, compared to 15% in Q2 2016.
