Postmedia Network reports increase in first quarter digital revenue
Jan 10, 2013 2:00 PM
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. reported Thursday a net profit of $8.3-million in its first quarter, down from a gain of $28.3-million in the same period a year earlier when the company booked a one-time boost from the sale of the Times Colonist in Victoria along with other B.C. newspaper assets.
Canada’s largest publisher of daily newspapers reported a 10% increase in digital revenue in the quarter, even as declining print advertising — a persistent trend throughout the publishing industry — continued to be a drag on sales.
The company had total revenue in the quarter of $211.7-million, down 8.4% relative to $231.1-million in the same quarter last year.
Compared to the first quarter of 2012, digital revenue was up 9.7% or $2.2-million to $24.8-million while print advertising revenue slipped 11.1% or $16.6-million to $132.7-million.
Operating income fell to $26.7 million from a year-earlier $34.2-million.
The company is in the midst of a three-year restructuring process intended to address the changing reality of the media industry and cut operating costs by 15% to 20%. It trimmed the size of its Postmedia News wire service, moved editorial production of newspaper pages to a centralized location in Hamilton, Ont., and has cancelled the publication of Sunday papers in some markets.
Postmedia said Thursday that as of Nov. 30, the end of its first quarter of the fiscal 2013 year, the company had implemented initiatives that would result in a net annualized cost savings of about $42-million.
