PROVIDENCE – LIN TV Corp. said last week that its net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $129.1 million, up 40 percent from a year earlier, with the “major portion” of that increase due to record-high political advertising revenue, $35.7 million.
Operating income for the quarter was $36.1 million, compared with a loss of $15.8 million a year earlier, the company said. Net income was $10.3 million, versus a $29.7 million loss a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share were 21 cents, compared with a 58-cent loss.
For the full year, net revenue was up 33 percent, to $426.1 million, but the company still lost $247.4 million – versus a gain of $26.8 million in 2005 – from operations and suffered a net loss for 2006 of $234.5 million, versus a net loss of $26.1 million in 2005.
The company attributed the 2006 losses to a $333.6 million non-cash impairment of goodwill and broadcast licenses, $5.6 million of severance costs, excluding stock-based compensation, relating to former CEO Gary Chapman’s retirement, an increase of $5.3 million in non-cash stock-based compensation and a $4.7 million restructuring charge.
