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New York Times Company Posts Loss (Big-Time)
 The New York Times Company, the parent of The New York Times, posted a $335,000 loss in the first quarter one of the worst periods the company and the newspaper industry have seen falling far short of both analysts expectations and its $23.9 million profit in the quarter a year earlier. sure, all newspapers have had that bad of decline....stats to back that up? The company did break even on a per-share basis, compared with the average analyst forecast of earnings of 14 cents, down from 17 cents in the first quarter of 2007. The companys main source of revenue, newspaper advertising in print and online, fell 10.6 percent, the sharpest drop in memory, as the industry suffers the twin blows of an economic downturn and the continuing long-term shift of readers and advertisers to the Internet. economic downturn they've done their damndest to spur for political reasons? Karma, bitch In a conference call with analysts, Janet L. Robinson, president and chief executive, said it was a challenging quarter, one that showed the effects of a weaker economy, compounded by a marketplace that has been reconfigured technologically, economically and geographically. "I'm looking for a golden, not leaden, parachute" Looking ahead, she said, We see continued challenges for print advertising in a faltering economy. "that we helped cause" The poor showing stemmed from The Times Companys core news media group, which includes The Times, The Boston Globe and The International Herald Tribune, as well as several regional newspapers. "that don't have subscribers" Excluding the $18.3 million charge, depreciation and amortization, the unit reported an operating profit of $68.5 million for the quarter, down from $99.4 million in the period a year earlier. The groups revenue dropped 5.7 percent, driven by the 10.6 percent decline in advertising revenue. But it also recorded a 1.9 percent increase in circulation revenue, after the company raised the prices of newspapers like The Times and The Globe. see? raising prices, like raising taxes, works! Until the voluntary subscribers drop off, unlike involuntary taxpayers...oops Posted by: Frank G 2008-04-18 |
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