The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Rogers Communications on Wednesday posted lower first-quarter profit and higher revenue as it works to pay down debt from its $20-billion takeover of Shaw Communications. The Globe's Alexandra Posadzki writes that the big telco had $256-million of net profit during the three-month period ended March 31, down 50 per cent from a year ago when it reported $511-million of profit. Meanwhile, the company's revenue increased 28 per cent year-over-year to $4.90-billion, up from $3.84-billion. Rogers's 2023 acquisition of Shaw boosted revenue, while also resulting in higher financing costs and higher depreciation and amortization on assets acquired as part of the deal. Rogers chief executive officer Tony Staffieri said the company has succeeded in finding $1-billion of savings stemming from the deal a year ahead of schedule, and it is now focused on reducing its debt-leverage ratio by selling off non-core assets. Glenn Brandt, the company's chief financial officer, said that process is taking longer than he had expected because the real estate market has been soft ahead of anticipated interest-rate cuts. Rogers closed Wednesday at $52.30, down $1.79 in Toronto.