New Debt, Higher Interest Push Times Mirror Profit Down 11% for 4th Quarter
Times Mirror Co., parent company of the Los Angeles Times, said Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit fell 11% because of higher interest expense from new debt to fund a transaction with its controlling Chandler family.
Profit from continuing operations fell to $67.5 million from $75.5 million in the year-ago period. A decrease in the number of shares outstanding caused per-share profit to rise to $1.03 from 87 cents, matching analyst estimates.
Los Angeles-based Times Mirror and the Chandler family last year transferred $2.5 billion in cash, investments and stock to a new partnership as part of a recapitalization that cut the number of Times Mirror’s shares outstanding and its preferred dividend payments. It also raised the company’s debt load and reduced its available cash.
Ad sales at The Times, the company’s flagship newspaper, rose 11% in the quarter. Revenue rose 12% to $836.6 million from $750.1 million.
Net income for the quarter was $67.9 million, down 72% from $246.3 million a year earlier, when the company reported an after-tax gain of $232.6 million from sold and discontinued businesses.
Times Mirror shares fell $1.13 to close at $58.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.
For the full year, income from continuing operations rose to $248.4 million, or $3.23 per share, matching analyst expectations. In 1998 the company earned $246.5 million, or $2.59 per share. Full-year revenue rose 9% to $3.03 billion from $2.78 billion.
At a Glance
* Carpinteria, Calif.-based MetaCreations Corp. reported, as expected, a fourth-quarter net loss, including charges, of $39.5 million, or $1.59 per share, compared with a net loss of $3.7 million, or 15 cents, a year ago. The loss resulted from the company’s decision to focus exclusively on its patented e-commerce software. Revenue fell to $187,000 from $1.9 million.
* Sports Chalet, the Los Angeles-based sporting goods retailer, reported lower fiscal third-quarter net income of $2 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with $2.6 million, or 38 cents, a year ago. Sales rose to $50.5 million from $47.2 million. But same-store sales--sales at its stores open at least a year--fell 5.5%, primarily because unusually warm weather softened demand for winter-related merchandise.
* L.A.-based mall operator Westfield America Inc. reported fourth-quarter funds from operations of $49.7 million, or 47 cents per share, compared with $41 million, or 43 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose to $131.3 million from $111.2 million last year.
