Playboy Warns Of Q4 Loss And $100 Million In Write-downs; Unspecified Number Of Jobs To Be Cut
This story was written by David Kaplan.
Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA) warned investors that it will take a write-down of goodwill and other charges amounting to more than $100 million, resulting in a net loss for Q4. The magazine publisher also expects a $4 million charge on cost-reduction initiatives, which will include an unspecified number of job cuts. The company is also in the process of combining its online and print functions. The combined unit will be based at Playboy's Chicago headquarters, though a small ad sales staff will remain in New York. Playboy will report its Q4 earnings on Feb. 18.
The company, which is in the midst of a search to replace CEO Christie Hefner, just completed the long-awaited relaunch of Playboy.com. The site's web traffic has been flat the last few years. The new site is designed to turn that around and sports a wide array of better-late-than-never social net features. Aiming for local ad dollars, it will also have a city guide, which will be based on a content-sharing deal with Blackbook. Release.
By David Kaplan