Times Mirror Raises Dividend, Cites ‘Growing Confidence’

Declaring confidence in his company’s rebound, Times Mirror Co. Chief Executive Mark H. Willes announced Thursday an increase in the Los Angeles media company’s stock dividend and outlined how it is meeting ambitious financial goals while maintaining journalistic standards.

“Our performance for the first quarter . . . was better than expected, and we have a growing sense of confidence that we can do what we have committed to do this year,” Willes told shareholders and employees at the company’s annual meeting. Willes came to Times Mirror from General Mills Inc. 11 months ago and promptly launched a sweeping restructuring.

The dividend for the second and third quarters each was increased to 10 cents a share, or an annualized rate of 40 cents a share, from 6 cents on both Series A and Series C common stock. The quarterly dividend last changed in the second quarter of 1995, when it was lowered from 27 cents a share.

Willes acknowledged that the last year “has been difficult and painful for many at Times Mirror,” which publishes the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Baltimore Sun. Times Mirror also owns companies that publish a variety of books, information and educational products for professional markets, and magazines such as Field & Stream.

Cost cutting helped boost Times Mirror’s first-quarter earnings from continuing operations by 85%, which caused several Wall Street analysts to raise their 1996 earnings projections to about $1.40 a share from about $1.25 a share. Times Mirror earned 84 cents a share in 1995.

Times Mirror’s stock price has responded, closing Thursday at $41.625, up 25 cents on the New York Stock Exchange. The share price has more than doubled during the last year.

Times Mirror’s swelling stock price has put “enormous pressure on us to do even better” than the company projected in December, Willes said. At that time, he said the company’s earnings per share would grow by 50% in 1996, by another 40% in 1997 and by 30% at 1998.

“Fortunately, a decline in the cost of newsprint, plus the fact that our cost-reduction efforts are working a little better than expected, have allowed us to raise our sights for 1996 to the earnings-per-share estimates now carried by most analysts of $1.40 to $1.45,” said Willes, who is also chairman and president of Times Mirror.

In addition, most of Times Mirror’s businesses will reach the corporate objective of earning at least a 12% return on capital by 1998, Willes said.

Willes said Times Mirror will continue to prosper by expanding its existing businesses, with a focus on “our strong print base,” rather than by acquiring new businesses. But such growth will not come at the expense of journalistic quality, he said.

“The . . . question--will we sacrifice high-quality journalism in our drive for high-quality financial performance?--is very easy to answer, and that is unequivocally no,” Willes said.

Willes noted that plans to sell Times Mirror’s Higher Education Group college publishing operations and its CRC Press scientific and technical information publisher are “going well” and may involve a swap for businesses in legal and medical publishing.

At the annual meeting, Willes also honored Times Mirror employees for innovations and journalistic achievements. David Laventhol, Times Mirror editor at large and former Times publisher, received the first Times Mirror Lifetime Achievement Award.