Times Mirror Profit Falls; Restructuring Costs Cited

Times Mirror Co. said Wednesday that both profit and revenue declined in the first quarter. The media company, which owns the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, said the results reflect a restructuring of operations and lower operating profit for all but its broadcast group.

The company said net income for the three months ended March 30 fell to $34.5 million from $44.2 million the year before. Revenue declined to $693.01 million from $695.02 million.

Robert F. Erburu, chairman, president and chief executive, said the results reflect the absence of operations divested as part of the company’s program of redeploying assets, the repurchase of 7.5 million shares of common stock last July and the exchange of cable television systems with Storer Communications, which also occurred in July.

Among its various units, the newspaper group showed the biggest decline in operating profit, falling to $55.27 million from last year’s $61.70 million. The Times had an improved first quarter, but the group as a whole was affected by poor economic conditions and by product improvements made in Dallas and Denver. Results of Newsday, its Long Island, N.Y., newspaper, were affected by the costs of introducing a New York City edition.

Operating profit for the book, magazine and other publishing group declined to $4.75 million from $7.34 million. The company attributed the drop to changes in the publication schedule of legal and medical books.

Broadcast television reported an improved operating profit, to $13.81 million from $9.11 million, as a result of increased advertising and lower programming costs at the company’s television stations. Cable television operating profit fell slightly to $12.54 million from $12.93 million.

Other sectors, including the newsprint and forest products group, showed declines in operating profit from a year ago, the company said.

Times Mirror said its corporate and investment operating deficit, which includes the cost of closing its videotext operations, increased to $15.7 million from $11.3 million.