ProJo parent company reports $6.1M loss in Q3

NEW MEDIA INVESTMENT GROUP, owner of the Providence Journal, among several other local publications, announced a $6.1 million loss for the third quarter. / PBN FILE PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD
NEW MEDIA INVESTMENT GROUP, owner of the Providence Journal, among several other local publications, announced a $6.1 million loss for the third quarter. / PBN FILE PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD

PROVIDENCE – New Media Investment Group Inc. experienced a net loss of $6.1 million in the third quarter, or 10 cents per diluted share. The previous year, the company reported a $2 million loss in the third quarter, or 4 cents per share, the company reported Wednesday.

The organization, headquartered in New York, owns The Providence Journal, The Newport Daily News, The Independent, The Herald News, The Standard-Times and The Taunton Daily Gazette, among other local publications.

Revenue for the third quarter totaled $380.4 million, a 19.9 percent year-over-year  increase, although on a same-store basis, revenue fell 4.8 percent from the same previous-year period.

The company closed the acquisition of the Oklahoman newspaper in the third quarter for $12.5 million, as well as an acquisition of a majority state in Rugged Events Holding LLC for $10.4 million.

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The company also reported suffering a $1 million loss due to Hurricane Florence in North Carolina.

Despite the loss, the company maintained that the quarter reflected positive results for the newspaper-acquisition-hungry behemoth. The company also touted that it had again raised its dividends for its investors.

“We had solid performance in the third quarter despite the impact to our Southeast properties from Hurricane Florence,” said Michael E. Reed, New Media president and CEO, in a statement. “Revenue performed well also, with a small, but important, improvement in same-store trend versus the second quarter. We continued to see exceptional growth within our newer business initiatives. The strong performance against our stated strategy led our board to declare an increase to the dividend, bringing our third-quarter dividend to $0.38 per share, or $1.52 when annualized. This marks the fifth consecutive year that the dividend has been increased since our inception as a public company.”

The company noted that it has closed on acquisitions in the last 12 months of more than $275 million, including deals worth more than $156 million so far in 2018.

Specific results for local papers were not included in the company’s quarterly report.

Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. Email him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.

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