Updates on Safety-Conscious Stocks

Article Excerpt

TORSTAR $21.17 (Toronto symbol TS.B; SI Rating: Above average) is one of Canada’s top media companies. It’s best known as the publisher of The Toronto Star, the largest daily newspaper in Canada. It also publishes over 150 daily and weekly newspapers in Southern Ontario. The company also owns Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., the world’s largest publisher of romance fiction titles. Torstar reported 5.7% higher revenues in the three months ended March 31, 2007, to $377.4 million from $357.1 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 61%, to $15.7 million or $0.20 a share, from $9.8 million or $0.13 a share. However, excluding a one-time gain, earnings per share were $0.17 in the latest quarter Torstar is now thinking about selling or closing its Transit Television Network division, which operates digital information screens on buses and subway trains. Despite contracts with big transit systems in Los Angeles and Atlanta, losses continue to grow. Selling this business would free up cash for operations with greater potential,…