Source : Globe & Mail

MONTREAL -- Radio and specialty television broadcaster Astral Media Inc. says it's looking for acquisitions after fiscal first-quarter profit rose more than 25 per cent to $20.7-million.

The owner of the Movie Network on digital TV said profit was helped by recent radio acquisitions and a rising number of pay-TV subscribers. "We are in a good position to take advantage of acquisitions," chief executive officer Ian Greenberg said during a conference call with analysts. "We're diligently examining every opportunity that arises, but as in the case of our past acquisitions we're looking for properties within our core businesses [with] the right culture and fit."

For the period ended Nov. 30, 2003, share profit was 37 cents a share, up from $16.15-million or 31 cents a share a year earlier. Overall revenue rose 15 per cent to $128.15-million.

"The positive impact of the radio assets acquired from Telemedia for an additional two months this quarter drove radio revenues up by 56 per cent from last year, with organic revenue growth continuing to be solid at 7 per cent," Mr. Greenberg said.

Montreal-based Astral maintained its earlier forecast of profit growth between 12 and 15 per cent in the fiscal year, but warned there might be a dip in its second quarter, reflecting a seasonality trend.

Mr. Greenberg said Astral's television division showed strong growth for the quarter, with subscribers to its pay-television networks up by 101,000 or 8 per cent over the same period last year.

Astral's class A shares closed up 9 cents to $29.34 yesterday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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