Scripps' Quarterly Earnings Drop 31%

By: (AP) E.W. Scripps Co. reported a 31% decline in net second-quarter results Thursday, primarily due to a write-down in investments including a steep decline in the value of its 2 million shares of AOL Time Warner stock.

The company reported net income of $27 million, or 33 cents a share, for the quarter that ended June 30. That was down from $39.4 million, or 49 cents a share, a year ago. Revenues increased to $400 million for the quarter from $372.5 million a year ago.

The company took a $65.6 million pre-tax charge for investment results, including a $35.1 million write-down in the value of its holdings in AOL, whose stock has declined from a 52-week high of $51.75 to a close of $13.11 on Wednesday.

The company said it also wrote down the value of investments in Scripps Ventures, a venture capital fund established in 1996 to invest in Internet and online commerce businesses. The company said it is winding down the fund because those businesses don't fit into the company's long-term plans.

Excluding the charge, income from core operations totaled $61.6 million, up 19% from $51.6 million a year ago.

The earnings of 76 cents per share from core operations exceeded estimates of 75 cents by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call.

Scripps said its fastest-growing division, Scripps Networks, had a 19% increase in revenues to $111 million for the quarter and a 24% increase in operating cash flow to $33 million. The division includes the company's cable television channels Home & Garden Television, the Food Network, DIY-Do It Yourself Network, and Fine Living.

Scripps said it expects its third-quarter income per share from core operations to be between 55 and 60 cents, compared with an adjusted 47 cents for the third quarter of 2001. Last year's previously reported figure of 38 cents has been adjusted to reflect accounting rules adopted Jan. 1.

The company operates 21 daily newspapers, 10 broadcast television stations, the four cable channels, Scripps Howard News Service, 31 Web sites, and United Media, which syndicates and licenses the "Peanuts" and "Dilbert" comic strips.

On the Net: http://www.scripps.com