Media General Shows 2Q Profit, After Cuts

Posted Wednesday, July 22, 2009 12:00 am

By: Newspaper publisher and TV station owner Media General Inc. says cost cutting helped deliver a profitable second quarter.

The Richmond, Va., company, publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Tampa Tribune, earned $20.6 million, or 90 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $532.2 million, or $24.12 per share, a year ago, when the company took a hefty one-time charge.

Revenue dropped 20 percent to $163.8 million from $204.9 million. Advertising revenue in the company's publishing segment fell 26 percent.

Layoffs, furloughs and other cuts helped trim operating costs by 23 percent.

Shares of Media General rose 48 cents, or 20.4 percent, to $2.83 in premarket trading.

The company operates more than 20 daily newspapers and 19 television stations.

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Media General Shows 2Q Profit, After Cuts

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