NYTCo Earnings Call: President/CEO Robinson: As Competitors Pullback, We'll Capture More Revenue
This story was written by David Kaplan.
[In progress]After reading her statement about the effects of the disastrous economy on the and the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) Co.'s attempts to manage the turmoil, President/CEO Janet Robinson led the Q4 call by emphasizing its plans to reduce costs. That includes securing a $250 million loan from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the closing in on an agreement to strike a sale-leaseback deal on its midtown headquarters and today's admission that the publisher has hired Goldman, Sachs to explore the possible sale of its 17.75 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures. Details on the NESV situation from CFO Jim Follo to follow.
But for the moment, Robinson went on to list the bad news affecting classifieds, which were down significantly. Trying to find some bright spots, Robinson focused on the ad sales related to the inauguration coverage both in print and online. The company also is expecting to realize incremental revenue from its recent decision to offer front page ads earlier this month. Her main point was that as the economy bears down on all newspapers, NYTCo is continuing to push ahead with new ad initiatives, which it believes ultimately benefit the company.
Beginning this month, NYTCo will no longer be releasing monthly revenue releases. A number of other newspaper companies have decided not to continue to put out financial information on a monthly basis, since the news has only been getting worse. More to come
Release | Webcast (11:00 AM EDT)
By David Kaplan