Journal Revenues Fall In Q3

Revs Fall

JOURNAL COMMUNICATIONS third-quarter radio revenue fell 17.3% to $17.9 million, with operating earnings up from a loss of $12.1 million (including a $17.7 million non-cash impairment charge for radio broadcast licenses) to $3.7 million (without the charge, the company would have shown a 34.8% drop from $5.6 million). The decline in operating earnings were due to revenue declines partially offset by an 11.2% decrease in operating expenses offset by a gain on the sale of two BOISE radio stations.

The broadcasting division showed a 21.4% revenue decline to $42.4 million, with local advertising revenue off 13.2% and national advertising revenue down 25.3%.

The company's overall revenue dropped 22.9% to $105.1 million; basic and diluted net earnings per share of class A and B common stock were $0.02 for both ($0.08 excluding a $2.6 million after-tax charge for workforce reductions and $0.5 million after-tax impact of the increase in a sales and use tax reserve), up from a loss of $0.35/share in 2008.  EBITDA fell 44% to $10.7 million.

"In the third quarter, we remained diligent about reducing costs and generating cash while operating in an ongoing difficult advertising environment," said Chairman/CEO STEVEN J. SMITH. "We made additional progress on debt reduction by paying down another $6 million in the quarter. Year to date, JOURNAL COMMUNICATIONS has reduced its debt by almost $43 million.

"JOURNAL SENTINEL continues its restructuring initiative to align employee costs with revenue. In spite of a significant workforce reduction charge, JOURNAL SENTINEL was profitable in the quarter.

"Although the advertising environment remains challenged, we did see some improvements in broadcast revenues as the quarter progressed. We also signed two significant long-term printing contracts with publishing customers, as we continue to capitalize on our JOURNAL SENTINEL production facility.

"We expect to see modest improvement in advertising expenditures as we enter the fourth quarter, yet our focus on expense and debt reduction will continue."

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