Times Mirror Operating Earnings Decline in First Quarter, but Net Income Increases

Times Mirror Co., still hampered by a soft advertising market, reported slightly lower operating earnings for the first quarter, although net income was up sharply from a year ago.

Income from continuing operations for the first quarter of 1993 was $27.1 million, or 21 cents a share, compared to $27.5 million, or 21 cents a share, for the equivalent period a year earlier.

Revenue, lifted by stronger performance in the company’s cable TV and publishing divisions, rose 3.1%, to $868.4 million. Net income, due to the absence of special one-time charges in the prior period, was $29.8 million, compared to a net loss of $89.8 million a year ago.

“Our financial performance in the first quarter was better than anticipated earlier,” said Robert F. Erburu, chief executive of Times Mirror. He added that results from the cable TV and professional publishing divisions had “exceeded expectations.”

Erburu said he remains “cautious” as to the outlook for the remainder of the year due to continued softness in newspaper advertising revenue, especially at the Los Angeles Times, and because of recent Federal Communications Commission actions to re-regulate cable TV rates.

Revenue in the newspaper division--which includes The Times, Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, the Hartford Courant, the (Allentown, Pa.) Morning Call, the (Stamford, Conn.) Advocate and Greenwich Times--slipped 0.6% to $464.6 million. Operating profit was flat at $24 million.

Daily circulation of the flagship Los Angeles Times dropped 2.2% to 1,138,353; Sunday circulation fell 0.7% to 1,521,197. Times Mirror said the circulation declines primarily reflect the closing of the newspaper’s San Diego County edition and soft street sales due to the recession.

The Times posted circulation gains in the highly competitive Orange County and San Fernando Valley markets.

Book, magazine and other publishing revenue rose 7.4% in the quarter to $293.7 million, boosted by the purchase of Wm. C. Brown Communications Inc. in the fourth quarter of 1992. Operating profit, affected by the seasonal nature of college publishing operations, was down 1.1% to $37.2 million.

Cable TV division revenue rose 8.3% to $113.2 million and operating profit climbed 31.8% to $26 million, due mainly to subscriber growth and rigorous cost control efforts.

As announced earlier, Times Mirror is selling its four network-affiliated TV stations for $335 million. The sale is not expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Income from the TV stations slipped to $2.7 million for the first quarter. The stations, which accounted for about 3% of 1992 revenue, are now being reported as discontinued operations.