Earnings: McClatchy Q1 Revs Drop 13.8 Percent; Online Up 10.6 Percent
This story was written by Joseph Weisenthal.
Continuing a trend McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) has announced Q1 revenue of $488.3 million, a 13.8 percent decline from $566.6 million. Net income, on a continuing basis, was crushed, falling to $1.6 million ($.02 per share) from $14.5 million ($.18 per share). Total advertising revenue fell 15.3 percent to $404 million, though online advertising grew 10.6 percent to $45.6 million. Online ad growth, outside of the very weak employment category, was up over 52 percent.
-- Outlook: Q2 is going to stay weak, but ad revenue is expected to tick up slightly in the quarter.
-- Classifieds: Along with its peers, this area is dropping much faster than other ad categories, falling 27.5 percent in the quarter.
-- Debt reduction: Separately, the company announced a tender offer to buy back $250 million in outstanding, publicly held debt. But, unlike Tribune, the company is not ready to sell off papers for the purpose of debt reduction. In a video message to employees sent out yesterday, reported E&P, CEO Gary Pruitt stated that debt reduction would be a priority, but that major asset sales was not in the cards. More generally, he promised that McClatchy was not going bankrupt. (via Romenesko)
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By Joseph Weisenthal