DENVER — ap Inc., one of the nation’s largest newspaper chains, reported a 34 percent increase in fiscal second-quarter net income because of one-time gains including a legal settlement and the sale of interest in newspapers.
MediaNews, which publishes The Detroit News, The Denver Post and more than 50 other newspapers, detailed its earnings in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Thursday. The privately held Denver-based company files financial disclosure documents with the SEC voluntarily.
For the quarter that ended Dec. 31, MediaNews reported net income of $17.4 million, compared with net income of $12.96 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue dropped to $345.2 million from $372.5 million.
Joint-operating agreements in Salt Lake City and Denver reported income of $12.5 million, up from $804,000 in the previous year, the company said.
The most recent results included a $3.8 million gain for legal fees stemming from a lawsuit against the former publisher of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and a $12 million pretax non-monetary gain on the sale of a 13 percent interest in the Connecticut Post and a 13 percent profit interest in The News-Times of Danbury, Conn.
The company also recorded a $500,000 pretax gain on the sale of a 33 percent interest in The Monterey County Herald.
Excluding transactions made during the quarter, MediaNews said its advertising revenue fell 14 percent from the prior year, which included a 30 percent drop in classified ads. In addition, the company said circulation revenue fell 6.5 percent from the year-ago quarter excluding the transactions.
MediaNews operates several of its newspapers under joint agreements, including The Denver Post and The Salt Lake Tribune.
For the first six months, MediaNews reported net income of $16.3 million compared with $26.3 million in the previous fiscal year.
Revenue rose to $680 million from $667.8 million.
The company operates 57 daily newspapers in 12 states with combined daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 2.6 million and 2.9 million, respectively, as well as a television station and radio stations.
W. Dean Singleton, the company’s vice chairman and chief executive, is chairman of The Associated Press, a not-for-profit cooperative owned by its member news organizations.
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