By: (AP) Knight Ridder, the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, reported a 10% increase in first quarter profits Thursday on stronger advertising results.
The company, whose 31 newspapers include The Miami Herald and the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, earned $55.9 million in the three months ending in March, up from $50.7 million in the corresponding period last year.
Per-share results came in at 70 cents, up from 62 cents a year ago and three cents above the estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Revenues in the latest quarter edged up 2% to $712.3 million from $699.3 million, while advertising revenues rose 2% to $547.9 million.
CEO Tony Ridder said in a statement that the quarter "concluded strongly," with a 6% gain in advertising revenues in March, including a 9% gain in the Philadelphia market, and other gains nearly as large in some other markets.
But he said that while it was "tempting to say that the 'recovery' has taken hold," he cautioned that the company's newspapers in San Jose and Akron, Ohio, showed declines in the quarter.
The first-quarter results from Knight Ridder paralleled those of other newspaper publishers, which also reported some improvement in advertising revenues but also higher costs, including newsprint. Knight Ridder's total costs rose 2% in the quarter, including a 4% rise in newsprint.
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