Adriano Marchese
Corus Entertainment Inc. on Friday reported a bigger-than-expected decline in the first quarter of its fiscal 2023 as lower advertising spending dragged down revenue.
Net earnings for the three months ended November 30 were C$31.4 million ($23.5 million), or C$0.16 per share, compared with C$76.2 million, or C$0.36 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings to fall to C$0.25 per share.
Revenue decreased from C$463.9 million to C$431.2 million, substantially in line with analyst forecasts of C$432.1 million for the same period.
Advertising continues to plague the company, weighing on its TV segment, where revenue fell 8% to C$401.5 million over the same period.
Chorus said it expects the trend of uncertain macroeconomic conditions to persist and that declining advertising spending will continue to affect business this year, although the rate of decline should improve in the calendar year.
Free cash flow also decreased during this period. The company posted free cash of C$20.8 million in the fourth quarter, compared with C$80 million in the same period last year, primarily due to a decrease in cash from operating activities and an increase in cash used for investing activities. created a flow.
Please contact Adriano Marchese (adriano.marchese@wsj.com).