New York Times Company’s 5.8% decline in ad revenue weighs on otherwise positive results
The New York Times Company posted its second-quarter results yesterday, 1 August, noting its increased circulation revenue was offset by a decline in advertising revenue.
Circulation revenue rose 5.1 per cent, to $245.1m, from $233.3m however a 5.8 per cent decline in advertising revenue, to $207.5m, offset this result.
Broken down, print ad revenue at the company’s newspapers, which include The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The International Herald Tribune, declined 6.8 per cent while digital advertising (which accounts for 24.7 per cent of the company’s total advertising revenue) fell 2.7 per cent.
Total revenue for the quarter declined less than 1 per cent, to $485.4m, from $489.8m in the second quarter of 2012 largely attributed to the 3.1 per cent drop in operating costs, to $431.9m.
Net income rose to $20.1m, or 13 cents a share, from a loss of $87.6m, or 58 cents a share, in the period a year earlier which seen losses due write-downs related to the sales of About.com and the company’s regional newspaper group.
In terms of subscriptions, the company noted positive results. The number of paid subscribers to the website, e-reader and other digital editions of The Times and The International Herald Tribune increased 35 per cent year-on-year to 699,000.
Digital subscriptions to The Boston Globe and BostonGlobe.com rose to 39,000, an increase of nearly 70 per cent from 23,000 a year earlier.