Postmedia posts Q1 profit on debt deal
Postmedia Networks Corp. reported a profit in its latest quarter, boosted by a debt restructuring negotiated by the struggling media company and its major creditors.
By The Canadian Press
Postmedia Networks Corp. reported a profit in its latest quarter, boosted by a debt restructuring negotiated by the struggling media company and its major creditors, however revenue fell nearly 15 per cent.
The Toronto-based owner of the National Post and other major Canadian newspapers says it earned $17.8 million or 31 cents per share for the quarter ended Nov. 30. That compared with a loss of $4.2 million or two cents per share a year ago.
Revenue for the first quarter of Postmedia’s financial year fell to $214.9 million from $251.1 million a year earlier as print advertising revenue fell by $31.1 million.
The results for the latest quarter included a $78.6-million gain related to the debt restructuring deal which reduced the company’s total debt of $648 million by about $307 million.
Postmedia reported an operating loss of nearly $46.3 million in the quarter, hurt by a $21.6-million non-cash impairment charge and almost $36 million in restructuring costs.
That compared with an operating profit of $19.4 million in the same quarter a year ago when restructuring costs came to $11.8 million.
This story is republished with the permission of The Canadian Press.
