New York Times Profit Plunges, But Tops Estimates - Update

(RTTNews) - The New York Times Co. (NYT) Thursday reported a plunge in fourth-quarter profit, hurt by lower advertising revenues, while the prior year included one-time gains. Nonetheless, results for the quarter topped Wall Street estimates.

The company posted fourth quarter net income of $65.6 million or $0.41 per share, compared with $178 million or $1.15 per share last year.

Results for the quarter included gains from discontinued operations of $27 million. The prior year quarter recorded gains of $165 million from the sale of investments and discontinued operation gains of $60 million, among other items.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.26 per share, compared with $0.31 per share a year ago.

On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.16 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the fourth quarter slid 5.2 percent to $444 million from $468 million in the prior year. Analysts expected revenues of $441 million for the quarter.

Advertising revenue fell 6.3 percent from last year, while circulation revenue dropped 4 percent.

Paid subscribers to the company's digital-only subscription packages, e-readers and replica editions totaled about 760,000 in the fourth quarter, up 19 percent from last year.

NYT stock is trading at $14.37, up $0.53 or 3.83%, on a volume of 498 thousand shares.