Restructuring improves Torstar’s outlook

Article Excerpt

Torstar Corp. $14 (Toronto symbol TS.B Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.9 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; SI Rating: Above average) publishes The Toronto Star, as well as other daily and community newspapers in southern Ontario. It also owns Harlequin Enterprises, the world’s largest publisher of romance novels. Like most newspaper publishers, Torstar has suffered in past few months due to the slowing economy. Advertisers are also shifting spending away from newspapers to the Internet. As well, rising newsprint and distribution costs are squeezing its profit margins. Torstar recently cut its workforce by 4%, which should save it $17 million a year. The company is now starting to realize some of these savings. In the three months ended June 30, 2008, earnings rose 23.7% to $0.47 a share (total $37.0 million) from $0.38 a share ($30.1 million) a year earlier. If you disregard restructuring charges and a gain on the sale of assets, Torstar’s earnings would have grown 15.8% to…