Corus Entertainment Inc. (TSX:CJR.B) reported stronger first-quarter financial results and raised its dividend Tuesday.
The owner of several specialty television channels, radio stations and the Nelvana animation studio said the dividend on its class B shares, which is paid monthly, would increase to a total of $1.09 per year, up from $1.02.
The dividend payment on its class A shares will increase to an annual total of $1.085 per share.
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"We have again benefited from our disciplined focus on cost controls, delivering excellent margins this quarter in the face of slow economic growth and tough year-over-year comparables in our merchandising business," Corus president and CEO John Cassaday said in a statement.
Cassaday said it was a pivotal year for Corus with the acquisition of full ownership of Teletoon from its partner Astral Media and strong ratings for its core TV brands.
Corus reported a profit of $150.9-million or $1.78 per diluted share for the quarter ended Nov. 30 compared with $52.2-million or 62 cents per diluted share a year ago.
The results included a $127.9-million gain on the value of its stake in Teletoon and $21.9-million in acquisition and restructuring costs as well as other one-time charges.
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Corus acquired the remaining 50 per cent of Teletoon after Astral was required to sell its stake in order to win approval for its takeover by BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE), owner of Bell Canada, CTV and other media outlets.
Excluding the one-time items, Corus said it earned an adjusted profit of $55.2-million or 65 cents per share, up from $52.2-million or 63 cents per share a year ago.
Revenue for the three months ended Nov. 30 was $226-million, up from $209-million a year.
Analysts were looking for 62 cents of adjusted earnings with $227.8-million of revenue for the three months ended Nov. 30, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.
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The revenue growth came from the Corus television division, which rose to $177.9-million from $157.6-million revenue, while revenue at its radio division declined to $48-million from $52.3-million.