By: E&P Staff Milwaukee Journal Sentinel publisher Journal Communications Inc. reported a third-quarter loss Thursday of $17.1 million, or 35 cents a share, including a non-cash impairment charge of $23.5 million for its four television stations and 13 radio outlets.
Revenue for the quarter fell 5.6% to $136.3 million, Journal Communications said. The company in 2007 reported third-quarter earnings of $13.1 million, or 16 cents a share.
Newspaper revenue was down 8.8% to $59.4 million on weakness across all advertising categories. Interactive advertising revenue at the Journal Sentinel increased 14.1% to $3.8 million compared to $3.4 million a year ago.
Operating earnings at newspapers publishing decreased 87.7% to $1.2 million from $9.4 million in Q3 2007. The 2008 quarter included a $3.7 million charge for workforce reduction. Excluding this charge, Journal Communications said, publishing operating earnings decreased by 48.4%.
Journal Sentinel total ad revenue fell 15.1%, on declines across all categories.
Classified ad revenue was off 25.7%, retail declined 6.2%, and national was down 29%.
Circulation revenue at the daily dipped 0.1%, Journal Communications said.
"A continuing tough economy resulting in a difficult advertising environment, moderated somewhat by political and Olympic spending, impacted our revenues once again in the third quarter," Chairman and CEO Steven J. Smith said in a statement. "Deteriorating macro-economic factors and a further decline in our stock price caused us to determine it was necessary to perform interim impairment testing of goodwill and intangible assets. The $38.8 million pre-tax broadcast license impairment charge that we announced today is a non-cash charge."
Smith noted that the company is reducing workforce at all its properties, and that it had reduced full-time equivalents at the Journal Sentinel "by more than our stated goal of 10%."
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