MONTREAL—TC Transcontinental reported more than a $33 million net loss in its first fiscal quarter, due to tax re-assessments the company plans to dispute, said a spokesperson.



The company declared a $33.3 million loss in net income applicable to shares on its Q1 statement to the media. Nancy Bouffard, who handles communications for Transcontinental, noted in an email to PrintCAN, "This decrease is mainly due to a tax provision of $58 million related to notices of re-assessment, which the corporation intends to contest, pertaining to deductions on investments in capital assets made by the corporation, as well as interprovincial allocation of income."

In comparison, the company reported a net profit (applicable to shares) of $25.7 million in Q1 of 2011.

TC Transcontinental also reported lower revenues in its first quarter from the same quarter last year, blaming the sale of its black and white book printing business (part of the asset swap with Quad/Graphics) and less printing volume in certain sectors including magazines and books.

"Revenues were also impacted by lower volume from the non-recurring revenue from the printing contract for the Canadian Census last year," noted the company. "For this same period, adjusted operating income decreased 12 percent... driven primarily by the media sector due to a softer advertising environment" and other factors.