The McClatchy Co. reported higher quarterly profits today amid signs that its lengthy revenue slump is easing.
Sacramento-based McClatchy, which owns The Bee, said income from continuing operations rose to $43.2 million in the fourth quarter from $33.5 million a year earlier. Bottom line net income grew even more sharply, to $42 million from $14.8 million, because the year-ago results included a big write-down of some Florida land holdings.
Per-share earnings rose to 49 cents from 17 cents.
McClatchy said fourth quarter revenue fell 5 percent, to $351.4 million. Ad revenue was off 5.7 percent, one of the smallest declines in years. Just three months ago, McClatchy's ad sales were dropping 10 percent from the year before.
"We were pleased to see our advertising revenue results improve in the fourth quarter," said Chairman and Chief Executive Gary Pruitt in a prepared statement.
The results beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts were projecting profits of 40 cents a share and revenue of $347.8 million, according to Thomson.
Pruitt said the improving ad trends were led by retailing, direct marketing and national ads, and "we also posted strong growth in digital-only advertising."
He added, "The fourth quarter reflected one of the strongest holiday seasons in recent years, and we were not suprised to see the momentum slow somewhat in January. Advertising revenues in January were down 7.9 percent compared to January 2011."
McClatchy stock jumped 35 cents to $2.59 a share in early New York Stock Exchange trading.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.