The New York Times Co. expects its...

The New York Times Co. expects its earnings for the third quarter to be lower than last year. In the year-ago third quarter, the company reported net income of $32.6 million, or 40 cents a share, on revenue of $406.459 million. The major reason for the projected earnings decline is lower advertising volume at the newspaper, where linage in July and August has been about 7% below the year-ago period, the company said. Magazine Group earnings will also be below last year. The company said it plans to continue to purchase from time to time, subject to market conditions, up to an additional 2 million of its Class A common shares. During the year, it repurchased about 2.5 million of the shares at an average cost of $27 each. The repurchased shares will be used primarily for stock options and an employee stock purchase plan.