Times Mirror Profit Dips in 1st Quarter

Times Mirror Co. said Tuesday that its first-quarter profit declined 8% to $68.8 million but noted that the year-ago profit included a gain from the sale of assets. Excluding that one-time gain and interest expenses, the company said its pretax operating profit rose 9%.

Times Mirror, which publishes the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, the Baltimore Sun and other newspapers, said operating profit rose to $129.6 million in part because of substantially increased earnings from its newspaper publishing and cable television operations. Revenue rose 9% to $846.9 million, the company said.

“Ongoing cost containment efforts are contributing to improvements in our operations,” said Robert F. Erburu, chairman and chief executive. “However, we are continuing to experience some softness in advertising in certain markets.”

Softening New York Economy

Newspaper publishing benefited from increases in advertising, lower costs and five additional days in the period, the company said. The Los Angeles Times and Baltimore Sun led the newspaper group with strong results, the company said, but Newsday’s advertising volume was weak, primarily because of a softening economy in New York. The newspaper sector reported operating profits of $90.1 million, a 20% gain. Revenue rose to $521.9 million from $471.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

In a separate announcement, Times Mirror said the newspaper group’s advertising revenue rose 10.5% to $422.3 million in the quarter.

The cable television operations showed the greatest improvement in the quarter, the company said. Operating profit rose nearly 58% to $14 million on a 17% increase in revenue. Times Mirror cited an increase in subscribers, higher rates and lower costs as among the reasons for the improvement.

Earnings in the company’s broadcast television and book and magazine publishing sectors declined. However, the company said its professional publishing sector, including the Matthew Bender and Jeppesen Sanderson companies, showed strong results.

Broadcast revenue declined slightly, but operating profits dropped 14% to $7.3 million. Times Mirror said less demand for advertising and a depressed Texas economy continued to affect the broadcast group, although the flagship station in Dallas, KDFW-TV, showed some improvement.

Book, magazine and other publishing revenue rose 9%, but operating profit declined nearly 21%.