A.H. Belo posts $8.7M loss in 1Q

A.H. Belo Corp., parent of The Providence Journal Co., posted a first-quarter loss of $8.7 million or 43 cents per share. That represents a 7.4-percent decline from its $9.4 million or 46 cents per share loss in the first quarter of 2007, when it was the newspaper segment of Belo Corp.
First-quarter revenue fell 8.8 percent year-over-year to $160.2 million, the company said. Internet revenue amounted to $12 million, or 7.5 percent, of the first-quarter total.
The new company “is navigating through a challenging operating environment,” Robert W. Decherd, its chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement last week. “But I am confident about the quality of our markets long-term, the strengths of AHC’s brands, and our ability to continue to transform AHC in an Internet-centric media world.”
A.H. Belo – spun off at the end of January – owns and operates three daily newspapers, the Journal, its flagship, the Dallas Morning News, and The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.; a variety of specialty publications for the youth and Hispanic markets; the Web sites associated with its publications; and direct-mail and commercial printing businesses.
“Like other newspaper companies, AHC was affected by economic and operating pressures in the first quarter,” the company said in its report. “The Dallas Morning News contributed over 64 percent of the company’s revenue in the quarter and did better than its peer group in revenue performance. Revenue declines in Providence were in line with industry trends, while Riverside’s revenue performance was weaker.”
Total print and Internet advertising revenue fell 12 percent compared with the 2007 first quarter, lagging the newspaper industry’s 9.4-percent average decline in 2007. Advertising revenue for the Journal fell 10.7 percent during the quarter, the company said during a conference call with analysts.
First-quarter circulation revenue increased 5.4 percent, led by a 12-percent increase at the Morning News. &#8226