By: Staff Reports But Company Beats Analysts' Expectations
Knight Ridder reported flat net income in the third quarter, amid slowing ad revenue growth, rising newsprint costs, and expenses related to the acquisition of CareerBuilder, an online recruitment service.
Net income was $76.1 million, essentially flat with the year-ago period, as revenue rose 3.6% to $812.8 million.
The No. 2 U.S. newspaper company earned 87 cents per share, up 11.5% from last year. Analysts polled by First Call Corp. anticipated 84 cents per share.
Chairman and CEO Tony Ridder said the results reflect "the sustained health of national advertising in virtually all markets, very strong help wanted numbers on the West Coast and, not incidentally, the great skill of our operators in keeping costs tight."
Knight Ridder expects to earn between $1.05 to $1.10 per share for the fourth quarter, including dilution from the Career Builder purchase, and between $3.65 and $3.70 for the full year.
Ad revenue for the third quarter was up 3.4%, with strong results in national partly offset by softening in classified and continued weakness in retail. Less than expected real estate and e-commerce advertising led the company to revise its full-year revenue forecast to between $45 million to $50 million, instead of $50 million as earlier predicted.
Online revenue was $12.2 million, a 44.3% gain.
Total costs rose 3.8%, due mainly to higher newsprint prices and higher interest expense.
3rd Quarter Earnings Reports:
NEW YORK TIMES CO. MEETS ANALYSTS' EXPECTATIONS (10/12/00)
DOW JONES' ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING REVENUE UP 10% (10/12/00)
ACQUISITION EXPENSES TEMPER EARNINGS AT GANNETT (10/11/00)
BROADCAST UNITS DRIVE EARNINGS AT SCRIPPS (10/10/00)
Copright 2000, Editor & Publisher.
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