By: (AP) Media General Inc.'s first-quarter profits rose 30%, reflecting strong revenue growth in its publishing and broadcast divisions.
Earnings for the period that ended March 28 were $9.1 million, up from $7 million in the year-ago quarter. Per-share earnings were 38 cents, up from 30 cents a year ago and beating the estimate of 31 cents from analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Chairman and chief executive J. Stewart Bryan III said the results reflected robust advertising sales in March, and exceeded the company's expectations.
The company cited growth in classified ads, including help-wanted. The broadcast division's results reflected higher spending on presidential-campaign ads, robust growth in automotive ads and strong Super Bowl ads at its 16 CBS affiliates.
First-period results also were boosted by lower interest expenses, coupled with improved results from SP Newsprint, which is one-third owned by Media General.
Revenues rose 6% to $208.2 million from $196.1 million.
For the second quarter, Media General said it expects publishing revenue to grow by about 5%, reflecting improvement in employment advertising, as well as retail and national ads. Broadcast advertising is expected to rise about 9%.
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