Publishing Revenues Decline 3.5%; Broadcasting and Entertainment
Revenues Down 2.6% CHICAGO, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB) today reported its summary of revenues
and newspaper advertising volume for period 11, ended Nov. 25,
2007. Consolidated revenues for the period were $413 million, down
3.3 percent from last year's $428 million. Consolidated operating
expenses were 5.0 percent lower than period 11 last year.
Publishing revenues in November were $309 million compared with
$321 million last year, down 3.5 percent. Advertising revenues
decreased 4.9 percent to $244 million, compared with $257 million
in November 2006. Advertising revenues benefited from the shift in
the Thanksgiving holiday week from period 12 in 2006 to period 11
this year. -- Retail advertising revenues increased 7.3 percent
with the largest increases in the specialty merchandise, department
stores, apparel/fashion and electronics categories. Preprint
revenues, which are principally included in retail, were up 18.5
percent for the period. -- National advertising revenues increased
1.9 percent, with the largest increases in the movies, auto,
financial and telecom/wireless categories, partially offset by a
decrease in the transportation category. -- Classified advertising
revenues decreased 26.2 percent. Real estate fell 39.8 percent with
the most significant declines in Chicago, the Florida markets and
Los Angeles. Help wanted declined 28.4 percent and automotive
decreased 7.6 percent. Interactive revenues, which are primarily
included in classified, were $21 million, up 7.8 percent, due to
growth in most categories. Circulation revenues were down 4.6
percent due to single-copy declines and continued selective
discounting in home delivery. Publishing operating expenses in
November were down 5.2 percent primarily due to lower newsprint and
ink, compensation, promotion and other cash expenses. Broadcasting
and entertainment group revenues in November were $104 million,
down 2.6 percent, due to decreases in television group revenue,
partially offset by increases in radio/entertainment revenues.
Television revenues fell 4.8 percent due to the absence of
political advertising, partially offset by strength in several
categories including retail, corporate, health, food/packaged
goods, telecom and restaurant/fast food. Broadcasting and
entertainment group operating expenses in November declined by 2.7
percent primarily due to lower compensation and other cash
expenses. Consolidated equity income was $11 million in November,
up from $8 million in the prior year period. Tribune expects to
complete its disposition of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and
related real estate, and its interest in Comcast SportsNet Chicago
in the first half of 2008. It plans to use the proceeds to repay
existing debt. As stated previously, the company also expects its
going-private transaction to close before the end of Tribune's 2007
fiscal year following satisfaction of the remaining closing
conditions, including the receipt of a solvency opinion and
completion of the committed financing. TRIBUNE (NYSE:TRB) is one of
the country's top media companies, operating businesses in
publishing, interactive and broadcasting. It reaches more than 80
percent of U.S. households and is the only media organization with
newspapers, television stations and websites in the nation's top
three markets. In publishing, Tribune's leading daily newspapers
include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday (Long
Island, N.Y.), The Sun (Baltimore), South Florida Sun-Sentinel,
Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant. The company's broadcasting
group operates 23 television stations, Superstation WGN on national
cable, Chicago's WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain
comments or forward-looking statements that are based largely on
the Company's current expectations and are subject to certain
risks, trends and uncertainties. You can identify these and other
forward-looking statements by the use of such words as "will,"
"expect," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "intend," "continue,"
or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology.
Forward-looking statements also include the assumptions underlying
or relating to any of the foregoing statements. Actual results
could differ materially from the expectations expressed in these
statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
include risks related to the proposed merger transactions being
consummated; the risk that required regulatory approvals or
financing might not be obtained in a timely manner, without
conditions, or at all; the impact of the substantial indebtedness
incurred to finance the consummation of the merger; the ability to
satisfy all closing conditions in the definitive agreements;
difficulties in retaining employees as a result of the merger
agreement; risks of unforeseen material adverse changes to our
business or operations; risks that the proposed transaction
disrupts current plans, operations, and business growth
initiatives; the risk associated with the outcome of any legal
proceedings that may be instituted against Tribune and others in
connection with the merger agreement; and other factors described
in Tribune's publicly available reports filed with the SEC,
including the most current annual 10-K and quarterly 10-Q reports,
which contain a discussion of various factors that may affect
Tribune's business or financial results. These factors, including
also the ability to complete the merger, could cause actual future
performance to differ materially from current expectations. Tribune
is not responsible for updating the information contained in this
press release beyond the published date, or for changes made to
this document by wire services or Internet service providers.
Tribune's next annual 10-K report to be filed with the SEC may
contain updates to the information included in this release.
TRIBUNE COMPANY SUMMARY OF REVENUES AND NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING
VOLUME (Unaudited) For Period 11 Ended November 25, 2007 (In
thousands) Period 11 (4 weeks) % 2007 2006 Change Publishing (A)
Advertising Retail $119,660 $111,477 7.3 National 62,851 61,668 1.9
Classified 61,864 83,794 (26.2) Sub-Total 244,375 256,939 (4.9)
Circulation 40,605 42,550 (4.6) Other 24,420 21,266 14.8 Segment
Total 309,400 320,755 (3.5) Broadcasting & Entertainment
Television (B) 96,719 101,563 (4.8) Radio/Entertainment 7,328 5,230
40.1 Segment Total 104,047 106,793 (2.6) Consolidated Revenues
(A)(B) $413,447 $427,548 (3.3) Total Advertising Inches (A)(C) Full
Run Retail 476 458 3.9 National 248 246 0.8 Classified 567 665
(14.7) Sub-Total 1,291 1,369 (5.7) Part Run 1,334 1,685 (20.8)
Total 2,625 3,054 (14.0) Preprint Pieces (A)(C) 1,403,562 1,265,662
10.9 Year to Date (47 weeks) % 2007 2006 Change Publishing (A)
Advertising Retail $1,105,814 $1,143,385 (3.3) National 610,972
630,762 (3.1) Classified 865,988 1,049,889 (17.5) Sub-Total
2,582,774 2,824,036 (8.5) Circulation 476,571 504,657 (5.6) Other
249,013 228,980 8.7 Segment Total 3,308,358 3,557,673 (7.0)
Broadcasting & Entertainment Television (B) 1,025,967 1,050,889
(2.4) Radio/Entertainment 256,221 236,278 8.4 Segment Total
1,282,188 1,287,167 (0.4) Consolidated Revenues (A)(B) $4,590,546
$4,844,840 (5.2) Total Advertising Inches (A)(C) Full Run Retail
4,640 4,702 (1.3) National 2,479 2,725 (9.0) Classified 7,249 8,597
(15.7) Sub-Total 14,368 16,024 (10.3) Part Run 16,652 19,157 (13.1)
Total 31,020 35,181 (11.8) Preprint Pieces (A)(C) 12,890,349
12,794,417 0.7 (A) Operating results for Hoy New York, SCNI and
Recycler are excluded herein and reported as discontinued
operations in the Company's external financial statements. (B)
Excludes results from discontinued operations that were sold in
2006 (WATL-TV, Atlanta, WLVI-TV, Boston and WCWN-TV, Albany). (C)
Volume for 2006 has been modified to conform with the 2007
presentation. Volume includes only the daily newspapers and is
based on preliminary internal data, which may be updated in
subsequent reports. DATASOURCE: Tribune Company CONTACT: Gary
Weitman of Tribune Company, +1-312-222-3394, Fax, +1-312-222-1573,
Web site: http://www.tribune.com/
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