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WINNIPEG (CP) - FP Newspapers Income Fund (TSX:FP.UN) says it increased first-quarter earnings 18 per cent to $1.3 million on higher revenue from advertising, flyer distribution and commercial printing.
The higher profit was attributed to strong performance at FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership, which is owned 49 per cent by the fund and, in turn, owns the Winnipeg Free Press and Brandon Sun daily newspapers and Canstar Community News Ltd.
The partnership's revenue for the three months ended March 31 was $28.6 million, up 6.6 per cent from a year earlier.
A small portion of the revenue increase, $200,000, was contributed by Rosebud Publications Ltd., acquired by the fund last year, with the remaining $1.6-million increase coming from organic growth at the partnership's other operations.
Advertising revenue, on a same-store basis, was $19.5 million, up $1.2 million or 6.8 per cent from the same quarter last year, partly due to one additional publishing day.
Other factors for the higher revenue included increased spending on display ads by two national automotive customers, increased rates for classified ads and higher volumes of classified ads in the employment category
Advertising flyer distribution increased by $300,000 to $3.75 million due to higher volumes and increased rates while commercial printing revenue rose by $100,000 to $1.6 million due to increased printing for the National Post and the Globe and Mail.
The fund declared distributions of 32.3 cents per unit, unchanged from the first quarter of 2005.
The fund's units traded Tuesday at $10.35, up one cent, at the Toronto Stock Exchange.
cpstf b
BC-NS-Shaw-Closure
code:4
SYMBOL:TSX:DTC, TSX:TBC, TSX:CAS, TSX:CFP, TSX:WEF
CP Business, Retail, Forestry
Shaw Wood shuts down wooden furniture plant in Cornwallis, N.S.
CORNWALLIS, N.S. (CP) - Shaw Wood, a Nova Scotia company that made wooden furniture for Swedish retail giant IKEA, is closing, throwing 200 people out of work.
The Shaw Group says its Shaw Wood operation in Cornwallis has been unable to obtain another contract with IKEA.
Shaw Wood was established in 1998 to manufacture ready-to-assemble pine furniture specifically for the Swedish company.
Shaw CEO Bert Frizzell says an over-capacity in pine furniture production in Europe and a strong Canadian dollar are contributing factors in the closure.
Frizzell praised the company's employees, saying they did everything they could to help the company reduce costs.
He says IKEA buys products based on the lowest prices it can find globally and Shaw can no longer compete.
