Scripps 4Q profits fall 8%
By Leah McBride Mensching, Thursday 31 January 2008 at 20:40 :: Newspaper Data :: #1183 :: rss
Fourth quarter profits fell eight percent for E.W. Scripps Co. due to a slump in advertising sales at its newspapers and televisions, the media company said Thursday.
Scripps profit of US$123 million (75 cents per share) for the quarter ending Dec. 31 was down from the same period of 2006, when profit was $134 million (81 cents per share). Revenue fell from $683 million in 2006 to $679.2 million in 2007, the company stated in a press release.
The results do not include the anticipated non-cash charge against the value of its uSwitch Inc. subsidiary, an online shopping comparison site in the United Kingdom, according to a Scripps company statement.
Newspapers managed by Cincinnati-based Scripps saw advertising revenue down 12 percent from the year prior, to $131 million, according to the Canadian Press.
Thomson Financial polled analysts, who expect earnings of 70 cents per share on $683 million in revenue for the quarter, the Canadian Press reported.
Kenneth Lowe, president and CEO of Scripps, said the company's national television networks and related businesses, such as HGTV and the Food Network saw “outstanding financial performance” in the fourth quarter.
However, “The company's total revenue, however, was down just slightly during the three-month period due to continued advertising weakness at our local newspapers and the relative absence of political advertising at our local broadcast television stations compared with the prior year,” he stated.
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