Weaker newspaper advertising sales in Denver, Cincinnati and Albuquerque clouded otherwise strong second-quarter earnings at E.W. Scripps Co., based in Cincinnati.
Scripps owns the Rocky Mountain News. Denver-based ap owns The Denver Post. The newsrooms are separate, but the two companies share business operations – including advertising and circulation revenues – under a joint operating agreement overseen by the Denver Newspaper Agency.
Scripps recorded a $3 million loss from its Denver JOA in the quarter, including $3.1 million in non-cash depreciation charges tied to the consolidation of printing operations.
In the same period a year ago, Scripps netted $3.5 million in profits from Denver operations.
Besides Denver, Scripps also has JOAs in Cincinnati and Albuquerque. Net profits combined from all three fell nearly 75 percent in the quarter compared with a year ago.
Scripps chief financial officer Joseph NeCastro, in a conference call Monday, said the company was looking closely at advertising strategy and staff in Denver.
He also expressed confidence that new Denver Newspaper Agency chief executive Harry Whipple, appointed in May, would remedy the situation.
“We are taking the necessary steps to improve our top line,” NeCastro said. “We are confident that Harry’s experience in managing JOAs in Salt Lake City, Cincinnati and Tucson provides us with the leadership we need to move Denver in the right direction.”
Overall, Scripps’ second- quarter profits fell to $71.1 million, or 43 cents a share, from $97.6 million, or 59 cents, in the year-earlier period.
That decline was attributable to $33.7 million in charges related to the sale of the Shop At Home cable network.
Excluding that, Scripps earned $104.9 million, or 64 cents in the quarter, beating analysts’ expectations of 60 cents a share.
The media company’s stock rose $0.95, or 2.27 percent, to close trading Monday at $42.87.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
