Overseas broadcast operations buoy CanWest’s bottom line
CanWest Global Communications Corp. announced January 21 that strong revenue performances by the company’s overseas South Pacific operations, particularly at Australia’s Network TEN, were offset by reductions in revenue from Canadian broadcast operations and its entertainment division in the first quarter of fiscal 2004. For the quarter ended Nov. 30, 2003, consolidated net earnings were $81 million, representing a 19% increase from $68 million from the same quarter a year earlier. "After a relatively strong performance during the summer months, the Canadian television industry experienced declining advertising sales in the quarter, and results from the company’s broadcast operations reflect that overall market weakness, where revenues for the quarter were $191 million this year compared to $215 million in the same period a year earlier," the company notes. The decline in revenue had a direct impact on EBITDA, which fell to $56 million in the fiscal 2004 first quarter from $81 million in the same period a year earlier. On the other hand, CanWest’s 57% interest in Network TEN’s EBITDA increased by 42% to $53 million compared to $37 million in the same period a year earlier.

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