FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
YEAR IN REVIEW – OUR RESULTS
RESULTS UNDER IFRS AND ON A CURRENT OPERATING BASIS
The following analysis provides a more detailed discussion of our financial performance.
| For the year ended March 31 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2017 | % change | |
| Revenue | 573,075 | 556,920 | 2.9 |
| Government funding | 1,207,749 | 1,099,085 | 9.9 |
| Expenses | 1,830,896 | 1,724,411 | 6.2 |
| Results before other gains and losses | (50,072) | (68,406) | 26.8 |
| Other gains and loses | 37,508 | (2,362) | (N/M) |
| Net results under IFRS for the year | (12,564) | (70,768) | (82.2) |
| Items not generating or requiring funds from operations | |||
| Pension and other employee future benefits | 52,492 | 51,066 | 2.8 |
| Depreciation, amortization and decommissioning expenses, net of amortization of deferred capital funding | 22,412 | 22,358 | 0.2 |
| Other provisions for non-cash items | (13,646) | (24,927) | 45.3 |
| Results on a Current Operating Basis1 | 48,694 | (22,271) | N/M |
Net results under IFRS for the year
Net results under IFRS for the year were a loss of $12.6 million, an improvement of $58.2 million (￪ 82.2%) relative to last year. Our results improved due to:
- Higher government funding by $108.7 million (￪ 9.9%). Parliamentary appropriations for operating expenditures increased by a further $75.0 million this year in accordance with the second year of the government’s reinvestment in the public broadcaster. In addition, we received salary funding of $34.1 million this year for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.
- A gain of $37.5 million, mostly reflecting a $54.5 million total gain from the sale of our interest in SiriusXM Canada Holdings Inc. (SiriusXM), partly offset by an $8.0 million non-cash loss on our disposal of the Maison de Radio-Canada (MRC) premises in Montreal and a $4.8 million loss from the write-down of software development costs.
- Higher revenue by $16.2 million (￪ 2.9%), mainly driven by growth in our advertising revenue on TV and on our digital platforms as we broadcast the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and Radio-Canada outperformed the Francophone advertising market throughout the year.
Partly offsetting these increases were higher expenses by $106.5 million (￪ 6.2%) consistent with our commitment to continue investing in original content, digital capabilities and local services.
Further discussion on our revenue and expenses is included on the following pages.
Results on a Current Operating Basis
CBC/Radio-Canada defines Results on a Current Operating Basis as net results under IFRS less the adjustments for non-cash expenses that will not require operating funds within one year and non-cash revenues that will not generate operating funds within one year. This measure is similar to that used by management to help monitor performance and balance the Corporation’s budget with parliamentary appropriations. We believe this measure provides useful complementary information to readers, while recognizing that it does not have a standard meaning under IFRS and will not likely be comparable to measures presented by other companies.
Adjustments include the elimination of non-cash pension and other employee future benefit costs, which represent the excess of the IFRS expense over the actual cash contribution for the year. Adjustments are also made for other non-cash items such as the depreciation, amortization and decommissioning of capital assets; the amortization of deferred capital funding; and non-budgetary annual leave. Other less significant items not funded or generating funds in the current period, primarily employee-benefit-related, are adjusted for in the reconciliation to Results on a Current Operating Basis.
The gain on a Current Operating Basis of $48.7 million this year was an increase of $71.0 million relative to last year. This increase is consistent with higher IFRS results as summarized above.
