Torstar reports $14.5M first-quarter loss compared with $24.3M loss a year ago
TORONTO — Torstar Corp. says it lost $14.5 million in its first quarter compared with a loss of $24.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The newspaper publisher says the loss amounted to 18 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a loss of 30 cents per share for the same period a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled nearly $129 million, down from $138.7 million a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, Torstar says it lost 20 cents per share for the quarter compared with an adjusted loss of 22 cents in the same quarter last year.
Analysts had estimated $125 million of revenue for the quarter and a loss of 14 cents per share, according to data from Thomson Reuters Eikon.
The company says it sold Workopolis.com and related assets to Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd. in April. Following the sale and wind up of the remaining Workopolis business, the company estimates the net proceeds will be in the range of $2 million to $4 million.
The first-quarter results were issued a few hours before the company’s annual meeting.
Torstar chief executive John Boynton, who joined the company last year, has undertaken a number of initiatives including discontinuation of the Star Touch tablet-only project, a new internal organization and management structure, and the rebranding of its free daily newspapers in various cities under the Star Metro banner.
But the most controversial decision since Boynton’s arrival has been a deal between Torstar and rival Postmedia Network Inc., in which they exchanged a total of 41 publications and closed a majority of them.
Canada’s competition watchdog has alleged in court documents submitted to obtain search warrants that “the companies conspired to divide up sales, territories, customers and/or markets for advertising or flyer distribution in certain regions.” Torstar and Postmedia have said they do not believe they contravened the Competition Act and that they are co-operating with the investigation.
Besides the Toronto Star newspaper and its affiliated website, Torstar owns daily and community newspapers throughout Ontario, a 56.4 per cent interest in VerticalScope and minority interests in a number of other companies.
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Torstar holds an investment in The Canadian Press as part of a joint agreement with a subsidiary of the Globe and Mail and the parent company of Montreal’s La Presse.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TS.B, TSX:PNC.B)