By: Mark Fitzgerald Media General Inc. -- with the Tampa Tribune and its sibling media properties depressing its balance sheet and stock price -- disclosed Thursday it has taken a goodwill impairment charge of $512 million for its publishing division.
In the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Richmond, Va.-based Media General said it also took non-cash impairment charges $198 million related to the worth of its broadcast station licenses; $67 million related to network affiliation agreements in its broadcast division; $500,000 for broadcast trade names; $4.4 million in investments and assets held for sale.
Media General said the total non-cash impairment charge after taxes was $532 million.
Media General on July 17 had reported it swung to a loss in its second quarter. With the filing of the 10Q report, the reported loss jumped to $532.2 million from $1.4 million loss from continuing operations it announced last month. In the second quarter of 2007, Media General recorded net income of $5.1 million.
Operating income for Media General's publishing Division, excluding severance and costs related to printing plant consolidation, fell $11.6 million in the second quarter. The company said three-fifths of the revenue decline in the quarter can be traced to Tampa, where Media General also operates a television station.
In late morning trading Thursday, Media General stock (NYSE: MEG) was down 47 cents, or 3.34%, at $13.60.
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