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A pedestrian walks past a Toronto Star newspaper box in front of the Toronto Star building at One Yonge Street in Toronto.MARK BLINCH/Reuters

Torstar Corp. says slightly improved operating profit at its Harlequin book-publishing division in the second quarter partially offset a decline at its Media division, which has been coping with a tough advertising market.

Torstar's net income was $35.7-million or 45 cents per share and adjusted EPS was 44 cents. Operating profit at the Media division, including restructuring charges, fell to $34.6-million from $42.7-million a year ago while book publishing operating profit improved to nearly $18-million from $16.3-million.

A year earlier, net income was $112.7-million or $1.42 per share, although that included an unusual gain of $74.6-million or 94 cents per share from the sale of Torstar's investment in CTV Inc.

Adjusted income a year ago, to exclude the CTV transactions and other items, was 51 cents per share in the second quarter of 2011.

The Toronto-based publishing company says its overall revenue for the quarter ended June 30 slipped by 2.4 per cent from a year ago to $383.9-million.

The Media division accounted for $276.8-million of the revenue during the quarter, down from $283-million a year ago, and book publishing contributed $107-million, down from $110.3-million.

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