DALLAS – A.H. Belo Corp., parent company of The Providence Journal, announced a net loss of $6.8 million for its 2011 second quarter, compared with a loss of $200,000 in the comparable year-earlier period, as advertising revenue fell 9.3 percent across the company, which includes The Dallas Morning News, The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif., other niche publications and the associated websites.
Total revenue for the chain fell 5.8 percent to $114.5 million in the three months ended June 30. Advertising revenue totaled $69.9 million for the period across the properties, although Belo said in an earnings release that the percentage decline was smallest for the Journal.
Circulation revenue fell 1.6 percent to $34.9 million, as a 0.4 percent increase at the Morning News was offset by declines at the Journal and Press-Enterprise.
Printing and distribution revenue increased 6.7 percent to $9.7 million, Belo said, largely due to increases at the Journal.
Robert W. Decherd, chairman, president and CEO of Belo, said “second-quarter adjusted [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] met our expectations,” noting that the company responded to “inconsistent advertising patterns with targeted expense reductions.”
Despite a net loss of 32 cents per share, Belo’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 6 cents per share, payable on Sept. 2 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 12.
In the release, the company noted that it took a tax charge of $3 million as well as non-cash expenses of $3 million, which included an expense related to its withdrawal from the G.B. Dealey Retirement Pension Plan it had shared with former parent company Belo Corp., along with increased depreciation on certain fixed assets. In contrast, the 2010 second quarter had included a $5.4 million gain related to the “disposition of a real estate asset.”
Removing the effects of those transactions, A.H. Belo had an operating loss of $3.5 million for the quarter, a 23.4 percent improvement on the 2010 period.
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Circulation decline at the Journal should not be a surprise to anyone. The paper is shrinking in every way. It has fewer pages. The news articles are shorter, i.e., heavily edited to take up less pace. (I guess they think most of their readers have ADD.) The front section no longer features national and world news. It is now devoted to local news. However, the definition of local has changed. Local coverage used to include nearby Massachusetts community news. That market is now pretty much ignored. Local now means RI only. Advertising revenue didn’t decline as much because more of the space within the pages is devoted to advertising, further limiting space for the news and contibuting to the decline in circulation. All of this has happened in combination with major price increases. The only bright light is the editorial content and the excellent product of staff and guest columnists. If that product quality goes the way of the recent trend to mediocrity, there will be facilities for sale and one less newspaper on your driveway in the morning.