Gee, why do I feel like having another glass of merlot? HA!
Here's Rooter's story
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh25074_2005-12-21_22-47-38_n21250279_newsml
UPDATE 1-New York Times forecasts lower quarterly profit
Wed Dec 21, 2005 05:47 PM ET
(Recasts first paragraph, adds details)
LOS ANGELES, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The New York Times Co (NYT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday said fourth-quarter net earnings per share are expected to drop 40 percent from the year-earlier period, due to costs for staff reductions and stock compensation.
The company said fourth-quarter net earnings are expected to be in the range of 45 cents to 47 cents, including estimated expenses for previously announced staff cuts, compared with 75 cents in the same quarter last year.
Analysts expected net earnings of 58 cents per share for the fourth quarter, according to Reuters Estimates.
The costs for the staff reductions announced in September are expected to be $34 million to $37 million, or 14 cents to 15 cents per share. The company also plans to take a charge in the fourth quarter of $16 million to $17 million, or 7 cents per share, for stock-based compensation expenses.
Stock-compensation expense for the year came in higher than expected, at $31 million to $33 million. Previously, the Times Co had said it would be $28 million to $32 million.
In last year's fourth quarter, the company recorded a charge of $5.8 million, or 2 cents per share, for restructuring its NYT-TV production facility.
Aside from a slightly lower tax rate of 40.4 percent for 2005, compared with 41 percent for 2005, the company had no other change to its fiscal-year forecast for 2005 or its outlook for advertising rates for 2006.
The forecast of lower earnings comes amid a tough environment for the U.S. newspaper industry, which has lost market share, subscribers and advertising revenue to online news services. Newspaper publishers also have had to contend with rising costs and falling circulation.
Earlier this month, the New York Times Co., which also publishes the Boston Globe and International Herald Tribune, said it would not issue 2006 forecasts for earnings, revenue growth, or expense growth due to a tough advertising environment.
Shares of the New York Times Co. slid 3.4 percent or 91 cents, to $26.07 in light after-hours trade on Inet, after closing at $26.98 a share on the New York Stock Exchange.
Note where the NYT says it won't issue forcasts for '06 earnings (or lack thereof).
I guess they still think that they get to decide what is and isn't news...