By: (AP) Dow Jones & Co. reported a 19 percent decline in third-quarter earnings Thursday due largely to costs related to launching the Saturday edition of The Wall Street Journal.
The financial news and information publisher earned nearly $10 million, or 12 cents per share, in the three months ending in September, down from $12.2 million, or 15 cents per share, in the comparable period a year ago.
The earnings came in a penny a share short of the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
Revenues rose 6.7% to $421.2 million from $394.9 million.
The company also said its fourth-quarter earnings would come in well below analyst estimates. Including costs associated with the launch of the Journal's Weekend Edition, Dow Jones said it expects to post earnings per share in the low to mid-30 cents per share range, versus the 46 cents per share analysts had been expecting and the 43 cents per share the company earned in the same period a year ago.
Revenues from print publishing declined 2.5% as higher revenues from the Journal were offset by a loss of revenue at the Far Eastern Economic Review, which was converted from a weekly to a monthly, as well as lower revenues from Barron's.
Dow Jones launched a weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal on Sept. 17 as part of an effort to broaden its base of readers and advertisers. The company also recently said it would reduce the width of the U.S. edition of the Journal in order to save on rising newsprint costs, and it has also relaunched its overseas editions in smaller formats.
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