Earnings: EW Scripps Posts $221 Million Loss; Revenue Down 20 Percent
This story was written by David Kaplan.
The problems of the newspaper industry were on full display in EW Scripps' first quarter, as the publisher swung to a $221 million loss and its revenues dropped 20 percent to $205 million. The loss represented $4.12 per share. Thomson Reuters (NSDQ: TRIN) analysts estimated that the Cincinnati publisher and broadcaster would post a loss of just $0.13 per share, excluding items, on revenues of $202.3 million, AP reported.
Overall, the company, which shuttered the Rocky Mountain News in February after failing to find a buyer, said that it had been severely affected by the pullback in advertising due to the recession. Online ad revenue was down 26.5 percent to $7.3 million, which demonstrated the problems of tying ad sales to print up-sells. About 55 percent of Scripp's online advertising is tied to print. Conversely, revenue from pure-play advertisers who only bought ads on the company's newspaper websites rose 30 percent to $3.4 million.
Earnings release | Webcast (9:00 AM EDT)
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By David Kaplan