Overall, New York Times reported a profit of $US9.4 million, or six cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $US12.5 million, or eight cents a share. As BuzzFeed News reported in September, the Post has experimented with pop-up windows asking users to turn off ad blockers, and others directing those who want an ad-free experience to become paying subscribers.
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“We remain bullish about our digital advertising business and expect it to return to growth in the fourth quarter”, Chief Executive Mark Thompson said in a statement.
Like most print media companies transitioning to digital, the Times is banking its future on a combination of paid online subscriptions and digital advertising. The company is expected to maintain firm control over operating expenses going forward, and it projects a decline of low-to-mid single digits in these costs for the fourth quarter, as the focus on lowering the legacy costs continues. The exhibits include a discussion of management’s reasons for the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures, as well as an explanation of non-operating retirement costs. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.
Still, those gains did not stem declines in advertising sales, which fell 2.1 percent to $135.4 million.
The results showed circulation revenue from digital-only subscriptions rose 13.8 percent year-over-year to US$48.6 million. (NYSE:NYT) is up 1.8% after posting a Q3 beat on top and bottom lines and added more digital subscribers as declines in print ads slowed a bit. Softness in advertising demand has been weighing on The New York Times Company’s performance.
Third-quarter print advertising revenue decreased 0.9 percent while digital advertising revenue decreased 5.0 percent.
The company credited a 7.6 percent decline in costs to $345.5 million, as well as a 1.1 percent uptick in circulation revenue to $209.1 million, bolstered by digital subscriptions. In total, the company made a $22 million operating profit on revenues of $365 million. Moreover, revenue came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $364.7 million.
Raw materials costs decreased 11.9% in the third quarter to $18.4 million from $20.9 million due to paper price and volume declines. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.06 per share for the quarter.
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The Company had income tax expense of $3.6 million and an effective tax rate of 27.8 percent in the third quarter of 2015. Total debt and capital lease obligations were $430.0 million.
