Earnings: Meredith Quarterly Figures Fall On Ad Weakness; Current Quarter Already Bad
This story was written by Joseph Weisenthal.
Women oriented magazine publisher and broadcast group Meredith (NYSE: MDP) reported across the board declines for its quarter ending June, 30 Revenue fell 10 percent to $385.2 million, while net income fell to $35.1 million ($.76 per share) from $51.5 million ($1.05 per share). The company cited an economic slowdown (this is getting pretty common) for knocking down ad revenue, which fell to $227.5 million from $259.2 million, a decline of 8.6 percent.
-- Publishing: Revenue fell hard to $306 million from $345 million. The company cited particular weakness among food, prescription and non-prescription drugs advertisers. Operating profit fell to $50 million from $70 million. The company did not break out digital revenue, so we'll hopefully learn more on the call.
-- Broadcast: Operating profit was $19 million compared to $28 million. A smidgen of digital data: broadcasting online and video related revenue was up 80 percent (no nominal figures). Unique visitors grew 300 percent in the quarter.
-- Outlook: There's no ad turnaround in sight. Already for the current quarter, publishing ad revenue is down in the high teens. For its full coming year, Meredith is calling for earnings of $2.50-$3.00 per share, a wide range that's well below current estimates of $3.15 per share. This is the second straight quarter the company has lowered its outlook, so the market deterioration is happening rapidly.
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By Joseph Weisenthal