By: (AP) Knight Ridder, the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, reported a 22% jump in third-quarter earnings Friday from a year ago when the company's results were depressed by a charge related to its stake in a recruitment advertising business.
Knight Ridder's net earnings rose to $69.1 million, or 85 cents per share, for the July-September period compared with $56.5 million, or 67 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2002. Without the $18 million charge, earnings would have been 81 cents per share a year ago.
The results were slightly better than the company had forecast in mid-August, which Chairman and CEO Tony Ridder attributed to better than anticipated results in September and a lower tax rate. The results were also ahead of the 81 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Despite the higher per-share earnings figures versus last year, the company's operating income fell 10% to $129 million. Ridder said the divergence was due to higher returns from investments in newsprint mills; higher results from CareerBuilder, the recruitment business; and fewer shares outstanding compared with a year ago.
The $18 million charge in the year-ago quarter was associated with converting CareerBuilder to a limited-liability company from a C corporation. Knight Ridder's Chief Financial Officer Gary Effren said the company has begun to realize the tax savings from the change.
Revenue fell 1% in the quarter to $685.3 million from $689 million a year ago, while advertising revenue fell 1% to $525.9 million from $532.5 million.
Knight Ridder publishes 31 daily newspapers, including the
San Jose Mercury News, The Miami Herald, and
The Philadelphia Inquirer.
For the first nine months of the year, net earnings were $197 million, or $2.41 a share, versus $160.8 million, or $1.89 per share, a year earlier. Nine-month revenues were essentially flat at $2.08 billion.
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