Weak quarter prompts dividend cut

Article Excerpt

TORSTAR CORP. $1.44 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 80.7 million; Market cap: $116.2 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend yield: 6.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.torstar.com) saw its advertising revenue drop 17% in the latest quarter. Its online businesses have also failed to meet expectations. These include its recent purchase of 56% of VerticalScope for $178 million. That firm operates online forums and websites. In the second quarter of 2016, the company’s share of VerticalScope’s losses totalled $17.9 million. That’s partly why Torstar’s own losses ballooned to $24.3 million, or $0.30 a share, from $1.1 million, or $0.01, a year earlier. Excluding unusual items, it lost $0.13 a share, compared to a profit of $0.14. Revenue fell 9.4%, to $196.5 million from $216.9 million. Torstar now plans to spend $10 million in 2016 on the tablet computer version of its flagship newspaper, The Toronto Star. However, the app is having trouble attracting new users. In…