With a 130% increase in share price, a 44% jump in revenue, a 49% increase in ebitda and an addition of more than $1 billion in market capital, Corus Entertainment reports an excellent year past as it gears up for a buying spree going forward.

‘We’re going to be very opportunistic, we have a good balance sheet, we’re well-positioned and we’ll take advantage of the opportunities as they arise,’ says Corus president and ceo John Cassaday.

With the recent acquisition of Nelvana, coupled with Corus’ pre-existing focus on children’s programming, Cassaday says the company is actively interested in picking up the assets of Cinar Corp.

He also confirms a significant interest in acquiring wtn, a Moffat-controlled specialty channel that will likely be put on the block as a result of Shaw Communications’ bid for the Winnipeg-based cable and telecommunications company.

And while Cassaday wouldn’t say whether Astral Media is a takeover target for Corus, he was quick to point out, ‘We’re already partners with Astral on Teletoon. We have an excellent relationship with them. We also share the pay and pay-per-view rights in Canada, with Astral having the franchise in eastern Canada and us in the west, so the companies are extremely compatible both from a standpoint of our management teams and in terms of our orientation in culture.’

Following Corus’ recent application to the crtc to increase its interest in Teletoon to 40% from 20%, the company has sent a letter to the commissioner requesting a six-month deadline extension for the sale of Family Channel as it intends to file a new application to keep its 50% interest in the specialty.

‘We expect a considerable softening of views by crtc members to the notion of Corus controlling analog channels as a result of the growth of dth, the approval of bce’s purchase of ctv, and a letter filed by the cable association making certain guarantees to the crtc regarding channel movement,’ says Cassaday.

Meantime, Corus is working on a code of conduct that will define the terms under which it will operate as an affiliated company.

‘We are also working with the industry to help understand specifically what concerns they have about undue preference and what we can do to address those concerns without prohibition. We believe that safeguards are the appropriate remedy and not the denial of purchases by companies like ourselves.’

And while the company does not plan to make any u.s. purchases, Cassaday says, ‘We now think we’re in a position to launch new channels internationally as a result of our ability to both package, as we do through ytv and Treehouse, and also deliver content.’

Corus closed the year with more than $350 million in cash.

In television, revenues were up 26% to $110 million and ebitda increased 50% to $35 million.

The Corus share price rose to $43.50 from $18.90 by year end. *

-www.corusent.com