Cash boost a plus for Torstar

Article Excerpt

TORSTAR $7.59 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $608.2 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.9%; www.torstar.com) reports that in the quarter ended June 30, 2014, revenue fell 7.4%, to $225.6 million from $243.6 million. Earnings per share fell 4.8%, to $0.20 from $0.21. Torstar is still deciding what to do with the $455 million in cash from the sale of its Harlequin book-publishing subsidiary. The company will use some of the funds to pay down its $180.8-million debt. But with sales and earnings still weakening as the slow economy hurts advertising revenue at its newspapers, it’s unlikely to reinvest much of the remaining cash in its newspaper operations. Instead, Torstar will probably focus on businesses with more growth potential, including web sites it owns, or perhaps new acquisitions. Torstar is still a buy. …