A buy for iPad sales

Article Excerpt

TORSTAR CORP. $10.16 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 78.9 million; Market cap: $801.6 million; SI Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.6%) has suffered like most paper publishers from free or low-cost Internet competition in news and ads. The company’s sales stagnated at around $1.5 billion a year for the past decade. Profits shrank, and the company lost $2.30 a share in 2008. However, Torstar has just reported its fifth consecutive quarterly profit. In the three months to June 30, 2010, it earned $0.48 a share (excluding one-time charges), up 37.1% from $0.35 a year earlier. Revenue rose 0.7%, to $376.5 million from $373.7 million. A 3.6% revenue increase at Torstar’s newspapers and web sites offset a 5.0% drop at its Harlequin subsidiary. However, the drop was due to last year’s jump in the Canadian dollar. Excluding currency movements, Torstar’s revenue would have risen 4.2% in the latest quarter. More important for its long-term prospects, Torstar’s Harlequin publishing division has begun selling its romance…