By: (AP) Newspaper and cable network company E.W. Scripps Co. on Monday lowered its fourth-quarter outlook, saying earnings will be hurt by losses at its Shop At Home unit and by the effect of Hurricane Wilma on its Florida operations.
Scripps executives, in New York for investor conferences, said they expect fourth-quarter earnings to be 48 to 50 cents per share, down from an earlier forecast of 52 to 56 cents per share.
Scripps' stock fell $1.18 to $45.83 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has traded from $44.73 to $52.91 in the past year.
Cincinnati-based Scripps said losses at Shop At Home, Scripps' television retail business, will be $10 million to $12 million during the fourth quarter. The company last month named Jim Held, a veteran retail industry executive, as the chairman and president of Shop At Home.
Joseph G. NeCastro, Scripps' chief financial officer, said in a statement that the loss of business to the company's Florida newspaper and television stations from Hurricane Wilma, which knocked out power to millions of Floridians and caused billions of dollars in damage in October, also would hurt earnings.
NeCastro said results at Scripps Networks and Shopzilla, its online comparison shopping subsidiary, are running stronger than expected in the fourth quarter. Shopzilla is expected to generate $50 million to $55 million in profit this year.
The company said its networks business, including HGTV, Food Network and DIY Network, is expected to post an 18% to 20% increase in revenue for 2006, while total newspaper revenue is expected to grow 4% to 6%.
It said broadcast television advertising next year should benefit from expected political advertising of at least $25 million and Super Bowl and Olympics ads could reach $8 million, with total revenue projected to rise 10% to 12 %.
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