{"id":9640,"date":"2015-03-04T17:42:55","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T23:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=9640"},"modified":"2015-03-04T17:42:55","modified_gmt":"2015-03-04T23:42:55","slug":"tribune-publishing-reports-sharp-drops-in-profits-and-sales-in-q4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tribune-publishing-reports-sharp-drops-in-profits-and-sales-in-q4\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribune Publishing reports sharp drops in profits and sales in Q4"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yasufumi Saito<\/p>\n

In its first report<\/a> as a separate entity, Tribune Publishing Co.<\/a> announced Wednesday drops in both fourth-quarter and full year profits and sales, mostly due to an advertising decline and its spinoff costs, and predicted further sales decline this year.<\/p>\n

The shares<\/a> plummeted about 10 percent at one point, before rebounding to close down about 3 percent.<\/p>\n

\"Tribune<\/a>
Tribune Publishing Company’s stock plummeted Wednesday morning, then rebounded to almost 3 percent of Tuesday’s closing price. (Bloomberg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the quarter ended Dec. 28, profits plunged 54 percent to $15 million, or 60 cents per diluted share, from $32.7 million, or $1.29 per diluted share, in the year-ago period. Sales diminished 5.5 percent to $457 million from $484 million.<\/p>\n

For the full year, net income decreased 54 percent to $42 million, or $1.66 per diluted share, from $94 million, or $3.70 per diluted share, in 2013, dragged down by \u201cspin-related\u201d and restructuring expenses of $41 million. Revenues fell 4.9 percent to $1.7 billion from $1.79 billion.<\/p>\n

The Chicago-based company fell short of a single analyst\u2019s profit estimate of $1.89 per a share.<\/p>\n

The company owns 10 dailies, including the Chicago Tribune<\/a>, Los Angeles Times<\/a> and Baltimore Sun<\/a>. The print operations were spun off in August 2014 from Tribune Media <\/a>that owns broadcast operations.<\/p>\n

A 1.9 percent, or $2 million, rise in circulation revenues couldn\u2019t offset a 10.4 percent, or $30 million, drop in advertising revenues for the quarter. Sales from commercial printing and delivery fell 19.2 percent to $38 million.<\/p>\n

The breakdown of quarterly advertising revenues shows that retail dropped 9.6 percent to $149 million, national fell 18.1 percent to $50 million and classified shrank 5.3 percent to $65 million.<\/p>\n

The company said it expects revenues of between $1.65 billion and $1.67 billion in 2015, down at least 1.8 percent from $1.7 billion in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny successful journey takes time,\u201d CEO Jack Griffin<\/a> said in a teleconference with analysts, \u201cand we have only just begun our transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the fourth quarter, the company launched new digital platforms and mobile applications. Yearly digital revenue increased 4 percent to about $200 million, accounting for about 11 percent of total sales.<\/p>\n

The company ended 2014 with 3.2 million digital registered users, including 659,000 paid digital users, up 8 percent from the third quarter, and 61,000 digital-only subscribers, up 11 percent and 24 percent from the third quarter and the last year, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2015, Tribune Publishing will remain vigilant and focused on executing our comprehensive transformational plan, which includes accelerating our transition to digital,\u201d said Griffin in a statement.<\/p>\n

The stock closed Wednesday at $19. 69, down 2.81 percent, or 57 cents.<\/p>\n

[field name=”tribuneearning”]<\/p>\n

Photo at top: The Chicago Tribune (alamodestuff\/Creative Commons<\/a>)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yasufumi Saito In its first report as a separate entity, Tribune Publishing Co. announced Wednesday drops in both fourth-quarter and full year profits and sales, mostly due to an advertising decline and its spinoff costs, and predicted further sales decline this year. 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