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Belo Sees Newspaper Revenue Flat to DownNEW YORK (AP) Belo Corp. expects total revenues from its newspapers to be flat to down 1% in the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year ago, held back by results from The Dallas Morning News, the media company told investors Wednesday.
Declines at the company's flagship newspaper, which is making restitutions to advertisers after having overstated its circulation figures, will be offset by gains of about 4 percent at The Providence Journal and 16 percent at The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif. The Dallas Morning News is expected to report a decline in advertising revenues in the mid single digit percentage range, the company said.
Addressing investors at a conference sponsored by UBS, Dallas-based Belo also said it expects to report fourth-quarter earnings in the range of 43 cents to 44 cents per share, in line with analysts expectations of 43 cents per share, according to Thomson First Call.
Looking ahead to next year, Belo said it expected newspaper revenues to increase in the low single digit percentage range.
Belo shares rose 9 cents to close at $24.90 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. It has been recovering from a 52-week low of $18 a share in August.
NYT Co. Expects 'Challenging' Year in 2005NEW YORK (AP) New York Times Co. executives told investors Wednesday that they expect the business environment to continue to be "challenging" next year, as it has been for the past several years due to economic malaise and the war in Iraq.
In a presentation to investors, chief operating officer Janet Robinson said the growing number of media choices and the new do-not-call telemarketing legislation have made it difficult to attract new readers, even as costs for newsprint, insurance, and benefits have risen.
"As we think about next year, we believe that the challenging industry conditions that have persisted over the course of the past few years are likely to continue," Robinson said in a speech at a conference sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston.
Leonard Forman, the company's chief financial officer, said the company expected advertising revenues to grow in the mid single digit percentage range in 2005. Circulation revenues are expected to be even with 2004.
Last week the company told investors its fourth quarter and full-year earnings would come in below Wall Street estimates due to weaker-than-expected advertising in the fourth quarter and higher costs for promotion, printing, distribution and newsprint.
Dow Jones & Co. Sees Tough Ad EnvironmentNEW YORK (AP) Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal and other financial publications, told investors Wednesday that business-related advertising continues to be choppy.
Peter Kann, the chairman and CEO of Dow Jones, said business-to-business advertising remains "volatile," and in particular technology advertising is "depressed."
Speaking to investors and analysts at a conference sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston, chief operating officer Richard Zannino said the Journal, the company's flagship publication, has been hit hard by the prolonged downturn in business advertising.
He said the downturn has been worst in advertising for technology, especially computer software and telecommunications businesses. He said those two categories are "large enough and depressed enough to bring our totals down."
Still, the company's shares rose 31 cents, or 0.8%, to close at $41.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Washington Post Co. Sees Lower Profits in 2005NEW YORK (AP) The Washington Post Co. doesn't expect to repeat its giant profit gains of 2004 in 2005 due to a number of factors, the company's chairman and chief executive Donald Graham told investors Wednesday.
In the year to date through September, the company reported a 73% surge in operating income and a 47% increase in earnings per share -- a result that Graham called "a hell of a nine months."
However, he noted that the company enjoyed a recovery in advertising following three poor years; a stronger job recovery in its home base of Washington than was seen in other parts of the country; higher broadcasting revenues from the election and the Olympics; and lower costs from stock-based compensation at its Kaplan educational subsidiary.
Graham said that while the company, which historically does not issue earnings "guidance" to investors as other companies do, was not concerned if profits were up or down in a specific year: "We just want to build the best businesses in the long run for our shareholders."
"I want to caution observers of our company that while the long-term outlook for The Washington Post Company is reasonably good, we have absolutely not discovered some miracle formula for regularly increasing profits," Graham said. "I will guarantee you that we have no way of producing any more years of percentage gains as great as 2004."
The company's shares were up $2.50 to $941.00 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Gannett Sees Mid Single Digit Ad GrowthNEW YORK (AP) Publishing giant Gannett Co. expects newspaper advertising revenues to grow in the mid single digits next year, while circulation revenues will be flat to slightly down, company executives told investors Wednesday.
The McLean, Va.-based company also said it forecasts fourth quarter earnings in the range of $1.45 to $1.49 per share. Current estimates by analysts polled by Thomson First Call range from $1.45 to $1.56 per share.
Gannett also reported Wednesday that its total revenues, including results from broadcasting, rose 5.1% to $628.6 million in November compared with the same month last year.
Craig Dubow, the head of Gannett's broadcasting business, which includes 21 television stations, said the company's 2004 results benefited from political advertising as well as advertising from the Summer Olympics.
Advertising revenues at the company's newspapers, excluding its flagship publication USA Today, USA Weekend, and its British subsidiary Newsquest, are expected to rise in the mid single digits next year, with circulation revenues flat to down.
USA Today is expected to report ad page numbers in 2005 that are flat to up in the low single digits compared with 2004, with circulation volume flat. Newsquest is expected to report ad revenues up in the mid single digits in 2005, with circulation revenue up in the low to mid single digits.
In midday trading, the company's shares slipped 45 cents, or 0.6% , to $81.40 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Knight Ridder Ad Revenue Jumps in NovemberNEW YORK (AP) Knight Ridder Inc., the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, posted a 6.6% increase in advertising revenue in November and said its expects to meet analysts' expectations for fourth-quarter earnings.
In a presentation to investors at a conference sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston Wednesday, Knight Ridder executives also said they expected advertising revenue to grow in the mid- to high single digit percentage range next year.
For 2004, Knight Ridder expects advertising revenue growth to come in at about 3% , with retail advertising up 1.2%, national advertising up in the low single digits and classified up 5.5 percent.
The executives also said they expected circulation revenue to decline by about 2.5% in 2004, and a decline of about half as much next year.
The company, based in San Jose, Calif., said it was comfortable with the $1.29 per share estimate for fourth quarter earnings posted by Thomson First Call.
Its shares were up 19 cents at $67.05 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares are up from a 52-week low of $62.24 in early August.
Journal Register Hedges OutlookNEW YORK (AP) Journal Register Co., publisher of the New Haven Register and other newspapers, said Tuesday it expected to report fourth quarter earnings that were in a range slightly below current analysts estimates.
Executives of Journal Register, which is based in Trenton, N.J., told investors at a conference sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston that the company expected to report earnings of 34 cents to 36 cents per share, reflecting results to date in the quarter and the impact of expenses relating to complying with Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting 35 cents to 37 cents per share.
The company also said it expects to report an increase of 4 percent to 5 percent in total advertising revenues in 2005, with circulation revenues flat to up 1% . It expects unit costs for newsprint to rise 11% to 14% .
Lee Sees Good Momentum Into 2005NEW YORK (AP) Lee Enterprises Inc., the Iowa-based newspaper publisher, expects good momentum going into 2005, chairman and CEO Mary Junck told an investors conference.
Junck declined to provide specific revenue forecasts in her presentation Tuesday to investors at a conference sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston.
She also said the company had taken additional steps to ensure the accuracy of its circulation figures in light of recent disclosures of misstatements at some major market newspapers.
Junck said that while Lee believes its own controls are in good shape, the company expanded its internal audit program and updated its circulation policies, as well as enhancing benchmarks to single out potential problems.
Based in Davenport, Iowa, Lee publishes 44 daily newspapers in 19 states.
Its shares fell 60 cents to $46.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Media General Sees Higher 2004 ProfitNEW YORK (AP) Media General Inc., the newspaper publisher and broadcaster, said Tuesday that it expects to report earnings for the fourth quarter and for all of 2004 that are slightly above analysts' expectations, thanks largely to growth in its broadcasting properties.
The Richmond, Va.-based company, which publishes 25 newspapers and owns 26 TV stations, told investors at a conference sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston that it expects its earnings to come in somewhat ahead of the estimates posted by Thomson First Call, which are $1.28 per share for the fourth quarter and $3.10 per share for the full year.
That compares with earnings of $1.00 per share in the fourth quarter of last year and $2.38 for 2003.
Overall, the company expects revenues to rise 7% for 2004, led by strong growth in broadcasting, which was lifted by political advertising. Profits are expected to grow in that division by 37% to 38% in 2004 over last year. Publishing profits are seen growing 3% to 3.5% .
Looking ahead to 2005, the company expects overall newspaper advertising to grow 5% to 6% , as classified advertising is expected to continue growing on gains from help-wanted and automotive ads. Classified ads are seen growing from 7% to 7.5% next year.
However, retail advertising as been mixed in 2004 due to the uncertain economic climate, and the company expects that category of advertising to grow 3% to 4% in 2005.
Media General shares rose 6 cents to close at $62.39 on the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares have risen from a 52-week low of $53.70 a share in September.
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