Global TV network owner Corus Entertainment posts $40.7-million quarterly profit

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      One of Canada's largest private broadcasters is in the black in this quarter, marking a stark turnaround from the $752-million loss posted in the same quarter of 2020.

      Corus Entertainment owns 39 radio stations, 15 conventional television stations, 33 specialty TV services, and the Global TV network.

      For the three months ending on May 31, Corusosted a $40.7-million profit on revenues of $403 million.

      Last year's whopping loss over the same quarter was attributable to a writedown of the value of its broadcasting licences and "goodwill impairment" during the pandemic.

      In the recent quarter, Corus's largest profit margin, 37 percent, came in its television operations. The profit margin in radio was only six percent over the same period.

      Through the first nine months of this fiscal year, Corus has posted net income of $152.6 million on revenues of $1.18 billion. Over that period, it has received $12.6 million under the federal government's Canada Wage Subsidy program, which was designed to cushion the economic impacts of the pandemic.

      Of that, $10 million went to TV, $1.7 million to radio, and $0.9 million to Corus's corporate operations.

      In addition to Global TV, Corus's Vancouver holdings include CKNW Radio, Rock 1010, and CFOX.

      Corus Entertainment's Class B nonvoting shares closed at $5.92 on Monday (June 28) on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They've risen 38.97 percent since the start of the year.

      The Shaw family controls the Class A voting shares, which do not trade on stock exchanges.

      In 2016, Corus Entertainment bought the shares of Shaw Media Inc. from Shaw Communications for $2.65 billion.

      On March 15, Shaw Communications agreed to sell its Class A and Class B shares to Rogers in a deal valued at about $26 billion.

      This transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

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