Montreal: Astral Communications has increased its investment in Artech Digital Entertainments from 35% to 51%, exercising an option to buy additional shares from founders Paul Butler and Rick Banks.

Astral president and ceo Ian Greenberg also announced that Ottawa-based Artech has signed a long-term software game development agreement with Hasbro Interactive. Artech production for Hasbro includes the Stars Wars Monopoly game, a top-10 entry on the PC Data best-selling family game chart, and three new titles slated for delivery in ’98 – My Little Pony, a cd-rom based on the children’s toy line, and Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, based on the top-rated syndicated American tv game shows.

In other news, Greenberg announced a strong showing from all divisions and Astral’s exclusive music and video supply deal with Blockbuster has resulted in a 31% hike in net earnings for the third quarter, with top-line revenues up 27%.

For the three-month period ending May 31, net earnings totaled $3.4 million or $0.24 per share, compared with $2.6 million or $0.20 per share in ’97. Revenues increased to $87.7 million from $69 million last year.

After nine months, Astral’s net earnings are up 28% to $8.7 million or $0.64 a share, while revenues are up moderately to $231.4 million. EBITDA is up 13% to $26.9 million.