By: (AP) Two newspaper publishers raised their estimates for financial results at an investor conference Wednesday, marking the latest sign of hope of an emerging recovery in the business.
Speaking at the Midyear Media Review in New York, the executives also said that lower average newsprint prices would help to lift results this year.
The McClatchy Co.The McClatchy Co., publisher of
The Sacramento (Calif.)
Bee, the
Star Tribune in Minneapolis, and nine other newspapers, reported that it now expects second quarter results to be between 75- and 77-cents a share, compared with a previous range of 70- to 72-cents per share that the company provided in April.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2002, CEO Gary Pruitt said, "We believe we will post modest revenue growth" in the second half of the year.
That growth, combined with lower newsprint prices, lower interest expenses, and cost controls, will lead to growth in cash flow and earnings for the rest of the year. The company now expects to post full-year earnings between $2.65 and $2.70 versus analysts' estimates of $2.63 per share.
Pruitt said the company was continuing to evaluate acquisition opportunities, but "we're willing to wait it out ... we don't have money burning a hole in our pockets."
Media General Inc.Media General Inc., a broadcasting and publishing company based in Richmond, Va., announced that it would beat the high end of analysts' expectations for full-year earnings per share.
Before the company updated its second quarter estimates on Monday, analysts had been expecting the company to earn $2.19 to $2.31 per share for the full year but the company said Tuesday that it now expects to beat the high end of that range.
On Monday the company updated its estimates for second quarter earnings, saying it expected to earn 65 cents per share. Publishing revenues are expected to grow 3.5% and broadcast revenues are expected to grow 16%.
Despite a strong rebound in broadcast revenues, Media General CEO J. Stewart Bryan III said: "The publishing business, on the other hand, remains soft, and the recovery has not occurred as quickly as we had hoped ... we do not have a strong sense yet about the coming months."
Pulitzer Inc.Pulitzer Inc., publisher of the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Ariz., and 12 other dailies, said that it expects to meet analysts estimates for second quarter earnings.
Alan Silverglat, chief financial officer, said the company expects to report second-quarter earnings near the midpoint of the current range of analysts' estimates, between 43- and 49-cents per share. For the full year, he said the company expects to report earnings at the upper end of analysts' estimates, which are currently between $1.60 and $1.67 per share versus $1.44 in 2001.
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