TORONTO – Corus Entertainment posted a net loss of $30.3 million for the third quarter, despite revenue gains led by its television segment.
Consolidated revenues for the three months ended May 31, 2014 were $214 million, up 14% from $187.1 million last year, while consolidated segment profit increased 23% from $64.6 million to $79.7 million year-over-year.
But the net loss attributable to shareholders for the quarter was $30.3 million, compared to net income of $89.9 million last year, which includes includes radio broadcast license and goodwill impairment charges of $75.0 million, capital asset impairment charges of $1.2 million, business acquisition, integration and restructuring costs of $0.6 million and a decrease in the purchase price obligation of $2.0 million related to the acquisition of control of Teletoon. Removing the impact of these items results in an adjusted net income of $41.6 million in the quarter.
Corus’ television segment revenues for the quarter were $170.6 million, up 22% from $140 million last year, while radio revenue fell 8% to $43.5 million from $47.1 million. Television segment profit increased 30% to $75.7 million from $58.2 million year-over-year, while radio segment profit plunged 21% to $11.7 million from $14.9 million last year.
Free cash flow increased to $59.4 million from $41.5 million in the same period of fiscal 2013.
Other highlights from Corus’ financial results include:
Television
– Specialty advertising revenues increased 42%;
– Subscriber revenues increased 24%;
– Merchandising, distribution and other revenues dropped 27%;
– Segment profit margin of 44%.
Radio
– Segment profit margin of 27%.
"In the third quarter, the Company delivered impressive double-digit revenue and segment profit growth fueled by our newly acquired television and radio assets," said president and CEO John Cassaday, in a statement. "While we experienced continued softness in the ad markets, we are encouraged by the ratings strength of our flagship networks W and YTV, which have maintained a leadership position with their core audiences, as well as the strong ratings gains from our family brands CMT and ABC Spark. The strength of our recent acquisitions, combined with our core business, continue to drive shareholder value with strong free cash flow and adjusted earnings per share growth for the Company."
