Good news for Torstar

Article Excerpt

TORSTAR $11.92 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 78.9 million; Market cap: $940.5 million; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.1%; www.torstar.com) is one of three firms that have taken control of The Canadian Press (CP). The other two are CTVglobemedia (which owns The Globe and Mail) and Power Corp. subsidiary Square Victoria Communication Group (which owns La Presse). CP provides news and other content to Canadian newspapers, radio and TV stations. It also has an exclusive agreement to distribute Associated Press news in Canada. The three companies have restructured CP. That will improve CP’s long-term prospects, and ensure that it continues to provide content to Torstar’s newspapers. Meanwhile, Torstar has reported its sixth consecutive quarterly profit. In the three months to September 30, 2010, it earned $0.28 a share (excluding one-time charges), up 27.3% from $0.22 a year earlier. Revenue rose 2.6%, to $352.7 million from $343.7 million. A 4.4% revenue gain at its newspapers and web sites offset a 6.2% drop at its…