Transit TV Charge Is a Minor Setback

Article Excerpt

TORSTAR CORP. $7.80 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.9 million; Market cap: $615.4 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; SI Rating: Above Average) owns Transit Television Network, which operates electronic advertising message boards in the transit systems of several U.S. cities. Due to falling ad spending, Transit TV has filed for bankruptcy protection. This will cost Torstar $1.5 million (Canadian). It earned $15.6 million, or $0.20 a share, before one-time items in the third quarter of 2008. Despite this setback, Torstar’s long-term outlook remains bright. Its expanding Internet operations should help offset slowing ad sales at its newspapers. As well, its ownership of romance-fiction publisher Harlequin Enterprises is an under appreciated asset. Torstar is a buy. buy…