New York Times Posts Loss
Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:54 PM
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The New York Times Co. posted a surprise loss on Thursday as the
economic downturn added to pressure on newspaper advertising and left the
publisher with worse-than-expected quarterly results.
Shares of the company, which recently took steps to appease unhappy
shareholders and avert a possible proxy battle, fell 1.9 percent in early
trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Times, which also owns the Boston Globe and more than a dozen
small U.S. daily papers, has been trying to find ways to fight a
persistent
drop in advertising revenue, building its Internet business and cutting
costs.
"Advertising revenues decreased in the quarter as weaker economic
conditions compounded the effects of secular change in our business,"
Chief
Executive Janet Robinson said in a statement. "While this is a challenging
time for the media industry, we are diligently managing our business for
the
long term."
The company re****ted a first-quarter net loss of $335,000, or
breakeven on a per share basis. A year ago, it posted net income of $23.9
million, or 17 cents per share, and income from continuing operations of
14
cents per share.
The results this year included a 7-cent-per-share charge to write
down
assets and a 3-cent-per-share gain for a tax adjustment. Excluding special
items, earnings per share from continuing operations fell to 4 cents from
17
cents in the first quarter of 2007.
Revenue dropped 4.9 percent to $747.9 million, short of the $754.06
million that analysts had expected, according to Reuters Estimates.
Analysts
forecast earnings of 15 cents a share, though because of buyout costs and
equity awards it was not immediately clear if that figure was comparable
to
the 4 cents a share the Times re****ted.
The Times said advertising revenues from its news media division
dropped 10.6 percent. While ad revenue from the Internet continued to
rise -- up 16 percent in the quarter -- that still failed to compensate
for
the drop on the print side.
Stuck with steady advertising declines, the Times, like other
publishers, is concentrating on trimming costs.
The company said earlier this year it would cut 100 newsroom jobs at
its flag****p paper, offering voluntary buyouts. However, as not enough
people have taken the buyouts, some layoffs are expected, according to a
re****t in the Wall Street Journal this week.
Some investors have publicly complained about the publisher's
response
to the tough newspaper business, with hedge fund Harbinger Capital
Partners
and investment firm Firebrand Partners urging it to sell a number of its
properties, including its smaller local newspapers, and move more
aggressively into digital properties.
The dissident shareholder group also demanded to have more seats on
the board. To avert a possibly proxy fight, the company agreed last month
to
raise the number of board seats by two and give them to the group.
© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/new_york_time_loss/2008/04/17/88970.html
CB
Maybe the Times will apply for a Socialized bail out from duh tax
payer
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