EARNINGS : Times Mirror Profit Up 7.6% in 2nd Quarter

Times Mirror Co. reported Tuesday that its profit, boosted by the sale of timberlands and a strong performance in cable television, rose to $85 million in the second quarter, up 7.6% from a year earlier.

Revenue for the Los Angeles media company, which publishes The Times, Newsday, the Baltimore Sun and other newspapers, increased 5.3% in the quarter to $861 million. Gains from asset sales and improvement in cable operations helped Times Mirror offset lower broadcasting earnings and a flat performance by its newspaper operations, caused largely by economic sluggishness in the Northeast.

Revenue for Times Mirror’s newspaper operations rose 2.5% from the year-earlier quarter to $525 million, with operating profit for the segment declining 0.3% to $88 million. The company said The Times posted a strong performance in the quarter, although advertising volume fell at Newsday on Long Island, which has been hurt by a softening New York economy.

The company’s cable television business showed healthy growth for the period. Operating earnings jumped 57.5% to $16 million, the result of cost controls and an increase in cable subscribers. Revenue for the unit rose 17.7% in the quarter to $82 million.

Times Mirror posted a $23-million pretax gain on the sale of timberlands, compared to a similar $8-million gain a year earlier. Excluding those gains, the company’s pretax income fell 3.1% in the quarter to $121 million.

Broadcast operations were hurt by soft advertising demand, high programming costs and the continuing economic slump in Texas, where Times Mirror operates two television stations. Revenue for the segment rose 0.8% to $29 million, with operating profit falling 8% to $13 million.

In a statement, Robert F. Erburu, Times Mirror chairman and chief executive, said the company’s revenue growth slowed largely because of weakening in the Northeast economy, although the lower revenue growth was offset by cost cutting and lower newsprint prices. For the first six months of the year, Times Mirror’s profit was virtually flat at $154 million, while revenue in the period increased 7.3% to $1.71 billion.