By: Jennifer Saba Did New York Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson signal the company might be backing away from a possible sale of its New England Media properties during a quarterly earnings call this morning?
In her opening remarks, Robinson said the company has not nor plans to comment on a potential divestiture of The Boston Globe and offered only that the New York Times is constantly reviewing its portfolio of properties.
The New York Times reportedly retained Goldman Sachs to seek bidders for its New England Group, which includes the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. The flagship paper reported it had obtained a
letter from Goldman Sachs setting the perimeters of an auction for the New England properties.
Robinson did comment on the cost savings achieved at the New England Media Group including the consolidation of printing facilities in Boston and the recent $20 million in cost recessions agreed upon by the Globe's unions. The Globe?s price increase has helped push circulation revenue growth, she added.
These steps, Robinson said, have helped put the Globe on better "financial footing." Without these savings, the Globe was on track to wrack up $85 million in operating losses this year.
Earlier this week, the Globe's newspaper guild agreed to $10 million in cuts.
Robinson did say the company was happy with the progress of the sale of its 17.5% stake in the New England Sports Venture and said the company expects a deal to close by the end of year.
Total revenue at the New England Media Group was down 19.2% to $109 million in Q2 compared to the same quarter in the previous year. Advertising revenue fell 31.1% while circulation revenue for the group was up 7.5%.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here