Projo parent sees 3Q earnings fall 2.4%

DALLAS – Belo Corp. (NYSE: BLC), parent of The Providence Journal Co., today reported a third-quarter profit of $18.76 million, a 2.4-percent decline from the year-ago period’s $19.22 million.
Earnings per share shrank to 18 cents from 19 cents per share in the third-quarter of 2006. The company cited after-tax expenses of $2.3 million, or 1 cent per share, related to the recently announced spin-off of its ailing Newspaper Group.
“Belo’s results were highlighted by a third straight quarter of superior performance by the Company’s Television Group, strong growth in our online businesses and excellent expense management across the Company,” said Robert W. Decherd, the company’s chairman and CEO.
Results from the Newspaper Group “were affected by a soft advertising environment, particularly at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, [Calif.],” Decherd said, but “both The Dallas Morning News and The Providence Journal delivered year-over-year EBITDA increases in the third quarter.”
Total third-quarter revenue shrank 3.2 percent to $354 million. The TV Group’s income grew 1.8 percent, as an increase in other local and national spot revenue partially offset a decrease in political revenue from $7.5 million in the third quarter of 2006 to $3.2 million in the quarter just ended. Newspaper Group revenue fell 7.8 percent as increases at The Providence Journal and the company’s flagship Dallas Morning News, and a 25-percent increase in online advertising revenue, were more than offset by losses at other publications, particularly in Southern California.
Highlights of the period included a strategic partnership announced last month with Mochila Inc., an online media marketplace for text, video and photo content.
Of the planned spin-off, Dechard said: “We are very pleased with the positive response – both internally and externally – to our announcement regarding the creation of separate television and newspaper businesses. “Significant progress is being made as we work through this transition period. We filed a registration statement for the spin-off with the SEC and we expect to receive comments in mid-November.
“The spin-off is expected to occur in first quarter 2008,” he said. Afterward, the A.H. Belo Corp. will continue to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange but will change its ticker symbol to AHC.
In the fourth quarter, the company is expecting slight year-over-year declines in both the Television Group, due to the absence of last year’s political advertising, and the Newspaper Group, according to Dennis A. Williamson, Belo’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. But, he said, “We again expect operating expenses to be less than the prior year after adjusting for anticipated charges related to the spin-off.”
Belo Corp. (NYSE: BLC) is a diversified media company whose properties include television, cable, newspaper and interactive media assets. Belo owns 20 television stations, owns or operates six cable news station and manages another local station; The Dallas Morning News and The Providence Journal, plus two other daily newspapers and variety of specialty publications targeting young adults and the Hispanic market; and it operates more than 30 Web sites associated with various print and broadcast operations. A member of the Fortune 1000, it has $1.6 billion in annual revenue and employs 7,000 people nationwide. To learn more, visit www.belo.com.