McClatchy Profit Plunges

(RTTNews) - Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co (MNI) on Friday reported second-quarter net earnings of $98 thousand or $0.00 per share compared with $89.9 million or $1.02 per share last year.

Results for the prior-year quarter included among other items, a combined pre-tax gain of $145.9 million primarily from McClatchy's share of the gain from Classified Ventures' sale of Apartments.com and to a lesser extent a gain on the sale of its 50% partnership interest in McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings from continuing operations for the quarter were $130 thousand compared with $2.8 million a year ago.

McClatchy, which publishers newspaper such as the Miami Herald and The Kansas City Star, reported quarterly revenues of $262.4 million compared with $287.4 million in the prior year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated a loss of $0.03 per share on revenues of $267.8 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company said that in connection with its reorganization actions and the recent decline in its stock price, it it is in the process of performing impairment testing of goodwill and other long-lived assets.

Upon completion of that testing, the company expects to record a non-cash impairment charge to GAAP earnings in its second quarter financial statements when it files its Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission or before August 7.