Astral Media Releases Third Quarter Results General News / Astral Media Inc. Posted by RAD on Jul 09, 2009 - 08:05 PM Astral Media Inc. today reported its financial results for the third quarter ended May 31, 2009, which saw continued growth in net earnings, EPS, revenues, EBITDA1 and cash flow from continuing operations1 Consolidated net earnings from continuing operations for the third quarter increased by 3% over the same quarter last year, rising to $44.3 million ($0.79 per share) from $43.2 million ($0.76 per share). Consolidated net earnings from continuing operations for the first nine months of Fiscal 2009 increased by 5% over last year, to $115.6 million ($2.06 per share) from $109.7 million2 ($1.94 per share2) last year. Consolidated revenues for the third quarter of $232.5 million grew slightly from the $231.9 million reported last year for the same period. Consolidated revenues totalled $686.3 million for the first nine months3 of the year, an increase of 8% over the $635.5 million recorded last year for the same period. For the third quarter, EBITDA1 grew slightly to $82.3 million from $82.0 million for the same period last year. EBITDA1 for the first nine months3 increased by 7% to $223.6 million from $208.5 million for the same period last year. Cash flow from continuing operations1 for the third quarter increased 3% to $59.0 million from $57.2 million for the same period last year. Cash flow from continuing operations1 rose 6% to $154.6 million for the first nine months3 of the year compared to $145.3 million for the same period last year. “I am pleased by the resilience displayed by the Company and the continued growth of our results throughout the first nine months of a very challenging year for the Canadian economy,” said Ian Greenberg, President and Chief Executive Officer. “While our subscriber revenues continued to rise, advertising sales were affected by the industry-wide decline in demand which continued to spread into all of our major markets in the third quarter. However, I am confident that our financial discipline, supported by a strong balance sheet and tight cost controls will help us emerge as an even stronger and more flexible organization when the economy turns around’’. 1. See Appendix 1. 2. Excluding the favourable impact of the non-cash future income tax recovery of $28.3 million ($0.51 per share) recorded in the second quarter of Fiscal 2008, resulting from enacted income tax rate changes (See Appendix 1). 3. The nine-month period of Fiscal 2009 includes nine months of operations of the assets acquired from Standard Radio as compared to seven months for Fiscal 2008. FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Television • Revenue growth of 3% for the third quarter (3% growth for the nine-month period); • EBITDA1 growth of 12% for the third quarter (6% growth for the nine-month period). Radio • Revenue decline of 4% for the third quarter (19% growth for the nine-month period3); • EBITDA1 decline of 17% for the third quarter (11% growth for the nine-month period3). Outdoor Advertising • Revenue growth of 1% for the third quarter (1% growth for the nine-month period); • EBITDA1 growth of 10% for the third quarter (4% growth for the nine-month period); • Launch of the new Digital outdoor advertising network of 10 advertising faces in the Montréal market. The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements with related notes and Management’s Discussion and Analysis are available on the Company’s website: www.astralmedia.com. This article is from CHANNEL CANADA   http://tvzone.channelcanada.com/ The URL for this story is:   http://tvzone.channelcanada.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3144