'Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Parent Swings to Q4 Loss on Big Goodwill Write-down

By: Mark Fitzgerald Journal Communications Inc. Thursday said it swung to a $223 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 after taking non-cash after-tax goodwill and impairment charges totaling $228.7 million.

The great majority of the impairment charges related to its broadcast business. Journal Communications said it took a goodwill impairment charge of $16.7 million in its publishing division, which includes its only daily, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The publishing division had an operating loss of $13.9 million including the goodwill write-down.

Publishing revenue fell 10.4% in the fourth quarter compared to the year-ago period on "continued weakness across all advertising categories," Journal Communications said.

Ad revenue at the Journal Sentinel plunged 18.6% on big declines in classified, which plummeted 34.2% in the quarter.

Retail was down 11.7% compared to a year ago, and national fell 6.5%.

Interactive revenue at the Journal Sentinel fell 3.4% in the quarter to $3.6 million from $3.7 million a year ago. Interactive ad revenue for the full year 2008 increased 9.3% to $14.7 million.

Excluding the goodwill write-down, and an $800,000 charge related to workforce reductions, publishing operating earnings were $3.6 million for the quarter, down from $6.2 million a year ago.

For the full year, Journal Communications said, publishing revenue fell 9.1% to $242.0 million.