Torstar taps into specialty channel growth

Article Excerpt

TORSTAR CORP. $9.43 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 79.2 million; Market cap: $746.9 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 5.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.torstar.com) has agreed to buy 25% of privately held Blue Ant Media Inc., which owns three specialty TV channels that focus on music, comedy and travel. Blue Ant is also in the process of buying High Fidelity HDTV Inc., which owns four high-definition specialty channels, including Oasis HD (nature programming) and HIFI (music and arts programming). Blue Ant’s purchase of High Fidelity requires regulatory approval. After the deal closes, Torstar will invest $22.7 million in Blue Ant. To put that in context, Torstar earned $25.2 million, or $0.32 a share, in the three months ended September 30, 2011. This investment will help Torstar continue to diversify beyond its newspapers. The company will also be able to use its papers and websites to cross-promote these channels. Torstar is a buy. buy…