The Times posted a net loss of $211,000 attributable to shareholders for the second quarter ended June 26, compared with a profit of $16.4 million the year-earlier quarter.
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Advertising revenue fell 12% in the second quarter, offsetting an increase of 3% in its circulation revenue.
Digital advertising revenue was $45 million in the period, down from $48.3 million a year ago, the company said. Excluding restructuring charges related to the streamlining of its worldwide operations and other items, adjusted per-share earnings from continuing operations fell to 11 cents from 13 cents.
Like other newspaper and magazine publishers, the Times has found it hard to cope with a steady decline in print ad revenue in recent years. The printing advertising make up around two-thirds of its total advertising revenue, and led to the net loss of the company.
“We once again saw a robust quarter in terms of digital subscriber growth, with 51,000 net paid digital-only subscriptions to our news products added in the second quarter and growth of 22 percent year-over-year”, said chief executive Mark Thompson. In the second quarter, the company also managed to cut costs by reducing headcount and closing parts of the global operations. The company also said that in spite of the higher circulation revenue and cost cuts, they could still not offset the decline of advertising sales. “We are already seeing a marked turnaround in July”.
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The New York Times Co. on Thursday reported that digital advertising revenue in the second quarter declined 6.8 percent – its second straight quarterly tumble in the important category – helping produce a 76 percent drop in operating profit.
