TVA Group Inc. a subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., said startup costs of the Sun News Network reduced earnings attributable to shareholders in the first quarter to $300,000 from $700,000 a year earlier.
The Montreal-based company earned one cent per share for the period ended March 31, compared to three cents in the first quarter of 2010.
Total revenues decreased 2.3% to $107.1 million from $109.6 million in the year-ago period.
TVA Group lost $844,000 during the quarter, which includes the non-controlling interest, compared to a $741,000 profit last year.
Its television sector’s operating profit decreased by 16.8% or $578,000 because of pre-operating expenses of the new Sun News specialty service which launched April 18.
That was partially offset by an 82.2% decrease in the TVA Films division’s operating loss and a 46.5% decrease in Sun TV station’s operating loss because substantially reduced activity.
TVA Group’s publishing sector’s operating income earned nearly $1.7 million in the quarter, a 26.4% decrease from $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2010.
TVA president Pierre Dion said the lower overall results in the quarter reflect its investment in content and launch of the new specialty services.
Advertising revenues grew 15.3% while subscription revenues increase 9.2%.
TVA Network registered a 24.9 market share during the Jan. 3 to April 3 period.
Cash flows provided by operating activities totalled $10.2 million for the quarter, compared to a $6.1 million usage in the prior period.
In addition to its Quebec broadcasting operations, TVA is a magazine publisher and owner of Sun TV in Toronto.
