Dallas Morning News parent A.H. Belo Corp. reported a first-quarter loss Tuesday of $9.13 million, or 44 cents a share, compared to a net loss of $100.7 million, or $4.91 a share in the year-ago period, which included a big non-cash impairment charge.
Total revenue declined 9.9% for the quarter compared to a year ago, which was the lowest year-over-year decline in two years.
But the advertising slump appears not to be over for Belo: Ad revenue from both print and digital fell 19.2%.
Digital revenue declined 8% to $8.5 million, although Belo noted its non-classified digital revenue actually increased 7.1% to $3.6 million.
Circulation revenue rose on higher pricing actions at the Morning News and Providence (R.I.) Journal.
"These improvements reflect the company's strategy of focusing on selected audiences, creating high-quality local content and delivering valuable audiences to advertisers," Robert W. Decherd, chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.
Decherd said ad revenue was "within 100 basis points (1%) of the Company's 2010 financial plan for the first quarter."
At the end of the first quarter, Decherd added, Belo had no borrowings outstanding under its bank credit facility, was in compliance with the facility's covenants and had approximately $43 million of cash and cash equivalents.
Total consolidated operating expenses in the first quarter of 2010 were $124 million, a decrease of 46.4% from the year-ago period. Excluding the $80.9 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge at The Providence Journal in the first quarter of 2009, expenses in the first quarter of 2010 were down 17.6 %.
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