TORONTO – Radio and TV owner Corus Entertainment reported another strong three months today.
“We enjoyed another solid quarter with strong ad sales in radio and television,” said John Cassaday, president and CEO, in the press release. “Our program investments at W Network and Movie Central are driving growth in these key brands and our focus on attracting and retaining strong local talent for our radio properties resulted in another strong ratings performance in the most recent industry survey. We continue to feel we are well positioned to capitalize on Canada’s continued strong economic growth.”
Consolidated revenues for the third quarter ended May 31, 2007 were $197.6 million, up 9% over Q3 2006. Consolidated segment profit was $63.5 million, up 10%, and net income for the quarter was $29.6 million ($0.70 basic and $0.68 diluted), compared to net income of $23.2 million ($0.55 basic and $0.54 diluted) last year.
Corus Television contributed quarterly revenues of $109.2 million, up 9% over the prior year’s quarter, led by continued specialty advertising growth of 12% and subscriber revenue growth of 7%. Quarterly segment profit increased to $45.6 million, up 9% from $41.7 million last year.
Corus Radio revenues were $74.8 million, up 4% from $71.9 million last year. Segment profit was $24.2 million, up 15% from $21.1 million last year.
Corus Content revenues (Nelvana) were $14.6 million, up 34% from $10.9 million last year. Segment profit was $100,000, compared to $500,000 last year.
Consolidated revenues for the nine months ended May 31, 2007 were $581.5 million, up 7% compared to all three quarters of 2006. Consolidated segment profit was $190.7 million, up 12%, and net income for the nine months was $85.8 million ($2.03 basic and $1.98 diluted), compared to a loss of $11.2 million (loss of $0.26 basic and diluted) last year. The prior year’s nine-month period included a pre-tax debt refinancing loss of $132 million.
Corus Television, led by specialty advertising growth of 13% and subscriber growth of 9%, contributed nine-month revenues of $332.1 million, up 9% from last year. Movie Central increased its subscriber base to 887,000 at the end of the third quarter, an increase of 8% from the same time last year. Segment profit for the nine-month period increased to $146.9 million, up 12%.
Corus Radio revenues were $209.2 million for the nine-month period, up 4% over fiscal ’06. Segment profit was $57.8 million, up 10%.
Corus Content revenues were $43.7 million, up 12% compared to last year. Segment profit for the nine-month period was $3.2 million, up from $2.3 million last year.
