Shaw Communications raised its dividend Wednesday as it reported a first-quarter profit of $227 million.
The company said its dividend will be going up 8% starting with its March 30 monthly payout.
The annual dividend rate for the company’s B shares will be $1.185 per share, up 8.5 cents, while the monthly dividend payment will be 9.9 cents per class B share and 9.9 cents per class A share.
The increased payment to shareholders came as Shaw said it earned 46 cents per share for the quarter ended Nov. 30, down from $245 million or 51 cents per share in last year’s first quarter and five cents below analyst estimates.
The company said its results were hurt by a $13-million loss related to its 50% interest in Shomi, a new subscription video-on-demand service launched in November with Rogers Communications.
Revenue for the three months ended Nov. 30 was $1.39 billion, up 2% from $1.36 billion a year earlier but also short of analyst estimates — as growth in its newer business-oriented segments failed to offset declines in its more consumer-oriented and advertising-driven business.
Revenue from its consumer communications businesses — primarily cable and internet services for the home market — was down 1.9% at $927 million, while its media revenue was down 5.5% to $307 million.
Shaw’s revenue growth came from an $8 million increase for business network services, which accounted for $127 million of revenue in the quarter ended Nov. 30 and a $55-million increase from business infrastructure services, which didn’t generate any revenue a year earlier.
During the quarter, Shaw closed the acquisition of a Denver-based company that operates 27 data centres in eight U.S. markets.
“We welcomed the ViaWest management team and employees to Shaw with the completion of the acquisition in early September and look forward to capitalizing on synergies and growing the data centre platform operations in the North American market,” Shaw chief executive Brad Shaw said in a statement Wednesday.
Shaw said the company is on track to achieve its guidance for the financial year ending Aug. 31.
Shaw’s first quarter ended before a major decline in oil prices since November that will likely affect Alberta and other provinces in Western Canada where the company has its main base of cable, internet and home phone subscribers.
The company also owns Global Television and 19 specialty channels including Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, History, Slice, National Geographic Channel and Showcase.
