Earnings Double At E.W. Scripps

By: (AP) The E.W. Scripps Co.'s earnings doubled in the third quarter from a year ago, boosted by improved performance from the company's cable television channels and better advertising revenues from broadcast TV.

Earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 30 were $45.7 million, or 57 cents per share, up from $22.6 million and 28 cents a year ago, Scripps said Thursday.

Earnings per share of 65 cents from core operations, excluding a one-time loss on investments, exceeded the 60-cent expectation of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Scripps Networks, the company's fastest-growing division, saw revenues increase by 26% to $97.1 million for the quarter and 69% in operating cash flow to $29.9 million. Scripps Networks includes the company's Home & Garden Television, Food Network, DIY -- Do It Yourself, and Fine Living cable TV channels.

Operating cash flow from the company's broadcast television stations increased by 65% to $20.6 million on a 19% increase in revenues. That was fueled by $5.5 million in revenue from political advertising, compared with $700,000 a year ago.

Broadcast TV ad revenues were down an estimated $4 million a year ago in the days following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Operating cash flow from Scripps newspapers increased 4% to $60.7 million, and ad revenue totaled $127 million, up slightly from a year earlier.

Scripps announced in August that it plans to buy controlling interest in the Shop At Home television retailing network for $49.5 million. Shareholders of Shop At Home Inc. are to meet Oct. 30 to vote on the proposed deal.

Scripps said it expects fourth-quarter income per share from core operations to be between 78 and 88 cents, compared with an adjusted 61 cents in the final quarter of 2001. The previously reported 52-cent income per share from core operations last year has been adjusted to reflect new accounting rules adopted Jan. 1.

Analysts were expecting the company to earn 81 cents in the fourth quarter.

The company operates 21 daily newspapers, 10 broadcast television stations and the four cable TV channels, along with Scripps Howard News Service, United Media which licenses and syndicates the "Peanuts" and "Dilbert" comic strips, and 31 Web sites.

On the Net: http://www.scripps.com