I'm thinking $1.00.
Posted on 10/19/2006 6:24:18 PM PDT by Milhous
Tribune said it was still on track to decide on a restructuring strategy by the end of the year. The Times, meanwhile, downplayed speculation that it was considering a leveraged buyout.
The Times, which also owns The Boston Globe and other newspapers, reported a 4.2 percent slump in advertising, while Tribune's newspaper advertising fell 2 percent. The Times was especially hard-hit by continued weakness in its New England properties, anchored by the Globe, where advertising slumped 10 percent.
The New England market has been especially hard hit by the consolidation of big retail advertisers such as Filene's, while classified advertising fell on weakness in autos, help wanted and real estate.
Tribune, which owns the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Chicago Tribune, among other papers, reported a big jump in net earnings to $162.2 million, or 65 cents per share, compared with $21.9 million, or 7 cents per share, due to one-time gains as it unwound two complex partnerships with its largest shareholder.
Excluding the gain, Tribune earned 43 cents per share, short of the 45 cents that analysts had been expecting, according to Thomson Financial. Revenues fell almost 3 percent to $1.35 billion.
Tribune, under pressure from its largest shareholder, has been considering ways to restructure the company, and a special committee of its board is expected to make recommendations by the end of the year.
On Wednesday Tribune said the committee had retained Morgan Stanley as its financial adviser as it considers alternatives, which could include a possible sale or breakup of the company.
Analysts remained generally downbeat about the industry, saying they saw little in today's reports to give them hope for a turnaround. Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine told investors in a note regarding the Times that "industry and company fundamentals remain lackluster with no real sense that revenue declines have bottomed." JPMorgan Chase analyst Frederick Searby said in a note that his team remains "concerned about print ad revenue across the industry given anemic print national ad spending and decelerating classified ad revenue growth." The Times' results beat recently lowered expectations, but still reflected considerable weakness in print advertising. The company reported earnings of $14 million, or 10 cents a share, down from $23.1 million, or 16 cents a share. Overall revenue fell 2.4 percent to $739.6 million.
The results included charges of 3 cents per share for job cuts and another 3 cents per share related to the sale of the company's 50 percent stake in Discovery Times Channel. The year-ago period also included a charge of 5 cents per share related to job cuts.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been expecting 12 cents per share, excluding the charges, but the Times' shares still fell 50 cents or 2.2 percent to $22.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. Tribune's shares were off 12 cents at $32.78.
Speaking on a conference call with analysts, Times CEO Janet Robinson downplayed speculation of a potential leveraged buyout of the company. Only the Times' controlling shareholders, the Ochs-Sulzberger family, are able to change the structure of the company, and "they have given no indication that they plan to do so," she said.
Another publisher, Belo Corp., reported a 13 percent decline in profits on charges but the results still beat Wall Street expectations. Belo, which owns The Dallas Morning News, earned $19.2 million, or 19 cents per share, down from $22.1 million, or 20 cents per share, during the same period last year. Belo\'s television revenues rose 6.9 percent, but newspaper revenues fell 4.2 percent.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for third-quarter earnings of 18 cents per share. The company's shares rose 25 cents or 1.5 percent to $17 on the NYSE.
Good.
ping
Excellent.
Schadenfreude
I'm thinking $1.00.
First the Dixie Chicks. Then the NYT. Mo Dowd, Your shelf life will not be as long as Helen Thomas.
Just my grafitti rant. And way up there is my giraffetti.
I think it's reaching a point of no return. There was a time when if the newspapers and magazines reported fairly, they would probably get their readership back, and with the readership, the advertisers. But it's taken them too long and even if they figured it out tomorrow, they might never get those readers back. They've found other sources and they'll never trust the papers again.
Mack the Knife is back in town
http://www.bobbydarin.net/mackie.mp3
Mack the Knife is Back!:
Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it … ah … out of sight.
Ya know when that shark bites, with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, though, wears old MacHeath, babe
So there’s nevah, nevah a trace of red.
Now on the sidewalk … uuh, huh … whoo … sunny mornin’ … uuh, huh
Lies a body just oozin' life … eeek!
And someone’s sneakin' ‘round the corner
Could that someone be Mack the Knife?
A-there's a tugboat … huh, huh, huh … down by the river don’tcha know
Where a cement bag’s just a'droopin' on down
Oh, that cement is just, it's there for the weight, dear
Five'll get ya ten old Macky’s back in town.
Now, d'ja hear ‘bout Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe
After drawin' out all his hard-earned cash
And now MacHeath spends just like a sailor
Could it be our boy's done somethin' rash?
Now … Jenny Diver … ho, ho … yeah … Sukey Tawdry
Ooh … Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town.
Aah … I said Jenny Diver … whoa … Sukey Tawdry
Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town …
Look out … old Macky is back!!
Decline in Hollywood ads hurt Tribune
By Joshua Chaffin in New York
Thursday Oct 19 2006 16:45
Tribune Co (NYSE:TXA) mpany suffered from Hollywood's dramatic pullback from newspaper advertising as it reported another quarter of weak results.
Tribune said that advertising from the film studios had declined 17 per cent this year at the Los Angeles Times, its biggest title, including a 10 per cent drop in the third quarter from last time. "Part of the decline is due to smaller ads, and shorter theatre runs where we're not getting ads for as many weeks as we used to," said Scott Smith, president of Tribune Publishing.
Film advertising accounts for about 10 per cent of revenues at the Los Angeles Times, and its disappearance has been an important factor contributing to the turmoil at the newspaper and its parent company.
Last week, Tribune fired the Times' publisher after he resisted demands for further job cuts. Tribune is mulling a possible sale or break-up of the entire media group under pressure from frustrated shareholders.
Dennis FitzSimons, Tribune's chief executive, offered few details of that review, except to say that it was "under way". For the third quarter, the company's earnings jumped to $162.2m from $21.9m a year ago, based largely on a one-off gain from the restructuring of two partnerships it inherited when it acquired Times-Mirror in 2000.
Yet Tribune's underlying operations showed further deterioration. Revenues in its publishing division fell 2 per cent to $956m as readers and advertisers continued to abandon papers such as the Times, New York's Newsday and the Chicago Tribune.
Its broadcasting group, which includes television stations in New York, Los Angeles, saw operating cashflow drop 15 per cent to $108m in spite of an increase in political advertising.
Mr FitzSimons said Tribune would press ahead with a strategy of cutting costs and investing more resources in internet businesses.
The difficult environment for newspapers was also underscored by the New York Times Co (NYSE:NYT) mpany on Thursday, which said its third-quarter earnings had fallen to $14m from $23.1m a year ago on weak print advertising and severance costs.
It's a bootifull thang ...
How many movies have conservatives seen this year?
I think we saw Curious George with our grandkids this year, or was it last year.
The hate America/Christians/Real Jews maggots in charge of Follywood in their arrogance have done the same thing the Dinosaur Fish Wraps have done. Turned off about 50% of their potential customer base.
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