By: (AP) The E.W. Scripps Co.'s first-quarter income rose 34%, led by substantial growth in advertising sales and affiliate fees at its national television networks coupled with strong political-ad revenue.
The Cincinnati-based newspaper and television company Wednesday said earnings for the three months ended March 31 rose to $70.5 million, or 86 cents a share, from $52.7 million, or 65 cents a share, a year ago. The latest results included investment gains of $9.5 million, or 12 cents a share.
First-quarter revenue increased 15% to $513.7 million from $445.2 million last year.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were expecting Scripps to earn 71 cents share on revenue of $500 million.
Scripps said first-quarter broadcast television revenue increased 7.8% to $75.7 million from $70.2 million, and political advertising revenue climbed to $4.2 million during the quarter from $200,000 last year. The company said political-ad revenue during the first quarter of the 2000 presidential election was $1.7 million.
First-quarter newspaper revenue rose 3.4% to $178.5 million from $172.5 million. Advertising revenue grew 4.1% to $139 million, led by an 11% increase in help-wanted ads.
Scripps expects second-quarter newspaper advertising revenue to increase 4-6% from last year. It sees ad-revenue gains of 8-10% from its television stations.
Scripps Networks expects second-quarter ad-revenue growth of about 35% with affiliate fee revenue gains of 40%. Scripps Networks includes Home & Garden Television, Food Network, DIY -- Do It Yourself Network, and Fine Living.
The company plans to increase programming and marketing expenses by about 30% during the second quarter as it attempts to increase viewership. Scripps expects the investment in its DIY and Fine Living networks and video-on-demand and broadband programming to reduce profit by about $8 million, or 7 cents a share, in the second quarter.
Excluding a gain on the sale of its WCPO property, Scripps sees second-quarter earnings between 92 cents and $1.02 a share, which brackets the current First Call average view of 94 cents a share.
Apart from the cable channels, Scripps operates 21 daily newspapers, cable and satellite TV programming services, Scripps Howard News Service and United Media, which licenses and syndicates the "Peanuts" and "Dilbert" comic strips.
Scripps shares were at $102.53 in early Wednesday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, down 64 cents, or 0.6%.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here