MONTREAL – Consolidated revenues totalled $292 million for the first six months at Astral Media, an increase of 10% over the $265.7 million recorded last year for the same period. Consolidated revenues were $138.2 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2006, up 10% from the $125.7 million for the same quarter last year.
For the first six months, ended February 28th, EBITDA increased 13% to $87.2 million compared to the first half of last year. EBITDA was up 12% to $38.4 million and cash flow from continuing operations rose 15% in the first half to $62.7 million
"This was a strong second quarter for Astral Media," said Ian Greenberg, president and CEO of Astral Media. "In what is traditionally a slower quarter in the advertising industry, revenues were up across the board, once again reflecting Astral Media’s well balanced asset mix. The television group (The Movie Network, Super Ecran, Family Channel, etc) had a strong quarter with an 8% increase in subscriber revenue and a 15% increase in advertising revenue, resulting in an overall television EBITDA increase of 15% for the quarter. Our Radio group (Rock Détente and other stations) recorded a 7% increase in revenues for the quarter and almost matched last year’s EBITDA, despite incurring higher music royalty fees."
"We are delighted by the solid results," Greenberg told financial analysts in a conference call on Wednesday morning. "Our television group had a terrific quarter."
Greenberg also told the call that the company is hoping to launch four new French-language specialty channels in 2007 with Videotron.
