The New York Times Company announced an operating profit of $12.9 million in the third quarter of 2013 compared with $8.9 million in the same period of 2012. Excluding depreciation, amortization, severance and a special item, operating profit rose 35.1 percent to $39.9 million from $29.6 million in the third quarter of 2012.
There was a third-quarter 2013 diluted loss per share from continuing operations of $.03 compared with a loss of $.02 in the same period in 2012. Excluding severance and a special item, there was a diluted loss per share from continuing operations of $.01 in the third quarter of 2013 compared with a loss of $.02 in the third quarter of 2012.
Total revenues increased 1.8 percent in the third quarter of 2013, with circulation revenues up 4.8 percent. In the third quarter, the Company added more net digital subscribers than in the second quarter of 2013. The total number of digital subscribers at the end of the third quarter was approximately 727,000, a 28 percent year-on-year increase. Total advertising revenues declined 2.0 percent in the quarter – the lowest quarterly year-on-year decline in advertising in three years.
“The third quarter of 2013 was a strong one for the Company,” said Mark Thompson , president and chief executive officer. “We increased our revenue, decreased our costs and, as a result, significantly increased our operating profit compared with the same quarter last year.
“We also made significant progress on our strategic initiatives. But we recognize that, despite these positive developments, we still have a great deal of work to do to transform our business model and to achieve our goal of long-term sustainable growth.
“In the third quarter we also announced the initiation of a 4-cent quarterly dividend. This allows us to return capital to our shareholders while maintaining a prudent view of both our balance sheet and free cash flow.”
Operating costs decreased 1.1 percent to $342.7 million from $346.4 million.
