By: E&P Staff Lee Enterprises announced that advertising revenue advanced 3.8% for a combined January-February period when compared to the same period last year.
Lee reported both months to give a more accurate financial picture. In 2005, January had five Sundays while February had four. In 2004, January had only four Sundays while February had five.
For the same periods, excluding the impact of acquisitions and divestitures made in the current or prior year, retail advertising grew 1.9%. National advertising rose 12%.
Classified advertising was up 3.9% with increases in employment, up 16.4%, and real estate, up 9.8%. Automotive was down, by 4.8%, as were other classified categories, which declined 5.6%.
"While the pace of growth slowed somewhat after the holidays in our usually smallest months of the year, our revenue statistics continue to keep us well ahead of the industry," said Mary Junck, chairman and CEO of Lee, in a statement. "As the Newspaper Association of America reported recently, the average advertising revenue growth for the December quarter was 4.7%, while Lee drove same property ad growth 5.8%. Even with the slower start to the calendar year, our same property advertising revenue for our fiscal year to date has grown 5.1% over a year ago."
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here