RICHMOND, Va. – Media General Inc., owner of WJAR-NBC Channel 10 in Providence, posted a 26.7-percent rise in fourth-quarter profits.
Net income for the quarter was $31.6 million, or $1.33 per diluted share, versus $25 million, or $1.05 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2005, the company said.
Income from continuing operations was $32.1 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, up from with $23.9 million, or $1 per share, in the year-ago period.
Media General noted that the results were affected by its June 26 purchase of Channel 10 and three other stations, from NBC Universal, and by the length of the quarter, which at 14 weeks was one week longer than the fourth quarter of 2005.
Total revenue for the quarter was $294.7 million, up 26 percent from the year-ago period. Excluding the new stations, total revenue rose 10.7 percent, Media General said. The extra week in the fourth quarter of 2006 contributed an estimated $18.5 million in total revenue, including that from the new NBC stations.
Marshall N. Morton, president and CEO, said the “strong profit improvement in the fourth quarter was mostly due to the outstanding performance of our Broadcast Division, bolstered by the four new NBC stations, and record Political revenues of $34.3 million.” That more than offset a 10-percent drop in revenue from the company’s newspapers.
“Newspapers were weak, as expected; TV was better than expected,” Edward Atorino, an analyst at Benchmark Co. in New York, told Bloomberg News.
The company owns 23 network TV television stations – four of which, including Channel 10, it bought last year from NBC Universal – and more than 125 newspapers and other publications, mostly in the Southeast. Additional information is available at www.mediageneral.com.
