Canadian media conglomerate Corus Entertainment reported lower-than-estimated profits in its first quarter of 2017, with the company’s TV business posting a 5% revenue decline on a pro-forma basis.

The TV revenue results, which come almost a year to the day since Corus announced its acquisition of Shaw Media for US$2 billion (CDN$2.65 billion), represent a 132% increase on 2016’s Q1 results. However, when factoring in the merger, the TV results equate to a 3% decrease in profit.

Significant declines for the period ending November 30 were seen within TV merchandising and distribution revenue, which was down 20% in Q1 (and dropped 33% on a pro-forma basis).

This is the first quarterly report that factors in both the Corus-Shaw merger and Corus’s exit from the pay-TV business, which occurred when it shut down the Movie Central service in November 2015.

Elsewhere, the consolidated company’s ad revenue was up 269% from the previous year, but declined by 7% on a pro-forma basis.

The company did post growth in its subscriber figures, though, with revenues increasing by 45%, which is the equivalent to a 6% increase.

Overall, consolidated revenues and EBITDA were US$355 million (CDN$467.9 million) and US$145.5 million (CDN$191.9 million), respectively, which dipped below RBC Capital Markets’ respective estimates of approximately US$362.4 million (CDN$478 million) and US$150.1 million (CDN$198 million).

A first-impression report released by RBC Capital Markets described the company’s quarterly results as “weaker than expected,” but acknowledged that the number of moving parts associated with the ongoing integration of the Shaw Media’s TV assets into Corus likely contributed to the declines. 

From Playback.