WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - New York Times Co. (NYT) reported Thursday a net loss for the third quarter that narrowed from last year, which was weighed down by loss from discontinued operations. An increase in circulation revenues failed to offset slumping ad sales.
Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations topped analysts' expectations, while quarterly revenues missed their estimates. The company also expects total circulation revenue growth for the fourth quarter to be similar to the third quarter, and total advertising revenues to decrease in the mid-single digits.
The company noted that results were impacted mainly from severance expense associated with previously disclosed workforce reductions as well as investment spending related to the company's strategic initiatives.
'Our third-quarter performance was better than we anticipated, reflecting broad digital strength that more than offset print revenue declines, leading to overall revenue growth of approximately 1 percent,' President and CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement.
The New York-based publisher of namesake newspaper reported a net loss of $12.49 million or $0.08 per share for the third quarter, narrower than $24.23 million or $0.16 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Loss from continuing operations for the quarter widened to $12.50 million or $0.08 per share from $5.24 million or $0.03 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding items, adjusted income from continuing operations for the quarter was $0.03 per share, compared to $0.01 per share last year.
On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report breakeven per share results for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Total revenues for the quarter edged up 0.8 percent to $364.72 million from $361.74 million in the same quarter last year, and missed five Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $369.90 million.
Circulation revenues for the quarter grew 1.3 percent to $207 million, and other revenue increased 2.7 percent to $20 million from last year.
Meanwhile, advertising revenues edged down 0.1 percent to $137.91 million from last year, with print advertising revenues decreasing 5.3 percent, while digital advertising revenue increased 16.5 percent, the third consecutive quarter of positive growth.
'Our solid year-to-date digital advertising performance is the result of deliberate execution on our strategic plan, including the introduction of Paid Posts, recent investments in areas such as video, growth on the smartphone platform and the momentum of our restructured advertising team,' Thompson stated.
Paid digital subscriptions in the quarter rose 20 percent to about 875,000 from last year. Revenues from the company's digital-only subscription packages, e-readers and replica editions increased 13.3 percent to $42.8 million.
The company said it added 44,000 new digital subscriber in the quarter, 20 percent more additions than the year-ago quarter, the best quarterly result in nearly two years,
Total operating costs grew 9.1 percent to $373.75 million, mainly due to severance expense associated with previously disclosed workforce reductions as well as higher compensation and benefits expenses primarily related to the Company's strategic initiatives.
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the company expects total circulation revenues to increase at a rate similar to the third quarter, while total advertising revenues are projected to decline in the mid-single digits from last year. Street is looking for fourth-quarter revenue drop of 0.6 percent to $441.40 million.
The company had earlier in the week announced a reorganization that is intended to accelerate the development of its digital consumer business by creating separate marketing and digital divisions.
'In addition to our revenue-generating initiatives, we recently announced some cost-cutting efforts, as we focus on strengthening our operating efficiencies while continuing to safeguard our unparalleled journalism and invest in our digital products and initiatives,' Thompson added.
In Thursday's regular trading session, NYT is currently trading at $12.80, down $0.60 or 4.48% on a volume of 0.27 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $11.22 to $17.37.
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