Post by Inside Australian Idol on Jan 23, 2004 1:14:00 GMT 10
CanWest can thank its Australian Idol
January 23, 2004
CanWest Global Communications, Canada's largest media company, boosted net income by 19 per cent for its fiscal first quarter - buoyed by revenue from Australia's Ten Network, which it controls.
But overall sales for the period fell 7.5 per cent as advertisers spent less on television spots. CanWest shares slipped 8.1 per cent, their biggest drop since June.
Revenue in the quarter to November 30, 2003, declined to $C586.1 ($582.6 million) million from $C633.6 million, the company, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, said in a statement.
A decline in television ads reduced sales at CanWest's broadcast unit to $C191 million for the quarter, from $C215 million last year. Price increases that Canadian broadcasters pushed through in the first half of last year led some advertisers to cut their spending, Sprott Securities analyst David McFadgen said before the results.
"A disappointing start for Q1," CanWest chief executive Leonard Asper said on a conference call, referring to the Canadian TV business.
After the result, CanWest shares fell $C1.07 to $C12.18 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. More than 1.89 million shares traded, the most in a year.
CanWest's net income rose to $C81.5 million from $C68.4 million a year earlier. Ten Network, in which CanWest holds a 57 per cent voting stake, contributed $C38.9 million to profit, up from $C25.8 million a year earlier.
Ten Network last month said shows such as Australian Idol boosted ads in the first quarter, leading to a 37 per cent increase in pre-tax profit for the period.
Higher programming costs combined with a "weaker than usual" advertising market pared profit at the Canadian broadcast unit, according to Mr Asper, whose family controls CanWest. Earnings declined by 31 per cent before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), to $C56.2 million.
The newspaper division, which publishes the National Post and the Ottawa Citizen, had a 1.7 per cent increase in EBITDA to $C83.2 million, fuelled by cost cuts. Sales fell 5.3 per cent after CanWest sold some papers last January.
Last year Mr Asper introduced a three-year plan to make the National Post, the company's biggest newspaper, a "contributing" asset. The Post, which CanWest bought through two transactions in 2000 and 2001, has lost money since it was founded in 1998. Mr Asper said its results improved in the quarter.
The film and TV production and distribution division posted a loss of $C1.1 million, compared with EBITDA of $C1.6 million a year earlier. The company blamed "weak" demand in international markets and reduced production.
Bloomberg
www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/22/1074732541395.html
January 23, 2004
CanWest Global Communications, Canada's largest media company, boosted net income by 19 per cent for its fiscal first quarter - buoyed by revenue from Australia's Ten Network, which it controls.
But overall sales for the period fell 7.5 per cent as advertisers spent less on television spots. CanWest shares slipped 8.1 per cent, their biggest drop since June.
Revenue in the quarter to November 30, 2003, declined to $C586.1 ($582.6 million) million from $C633.6 million, the company, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, said in a statement.
A decline in television ads reduced sales at CanWest's broadcast unit to $C191 million for the quarter, from $C215 million last year. Price increases that Canadian broadcasters pushed through in the first half of last year led some advertisers to cut their spending, Sprott Securities analyst David McFadgen said before the results.
"A disappointing start for Q1," CanWest chief executive Leonard Asper said on a conference call, referring to the Canadian TV business.
After the result, CanWest shares fell $C1.07 to $C12.18 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. More than 1.89 million shares traded, the most in a year.
CanWest's net income rose to $C81.5 million from $C68.4 million a year earlier. Ten Network, in which CanWest holds a 57 per cent voting stake, contributed $C38.9 million to profit, up from $C25.8 million a year earlier.
Ten Network last month said shows such as Australian Idol boosted ads in the first quarter, leading to a 37 per cent increase in pre-tax profit for the period.
Higher programming costs combined with a "weaker than usual" advertising market pared profit at the Canadian broadcast unit, according to Mr Asper, whose family controls CanWest. Earnings declined by 31 per cent before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), to $C56.2 million.
The newspaper division, which publishes the National Post and the Ottawa Citizen, had a 1.7 per cent increase in EBITDA to $C83.2 million, fuelled by cost cuts. Sales fell 5.3 per cent after CanWest sold some papers last January.
Last year Mr Asper introduced a three-year plan to make the National Post, the company's biggest newspaper, a "contributing" asset. The Post, which CanWest bought through two transactions in 2000 and 2001, has lost money since it was founded in 1998. Mr Asper said its results improved in the quarter.
The film and TV production and distribution division posted a loss of $C1.1 million, compared with EBITDA of $C1.6 million a year earlier. The company blamed "weak" demand in international markets and reduced production.
Bloomberg
www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/22/1074732541395.html
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