E.W. Scripps Slips To Loss In Q2 - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Media company E.W. Scripps Co. (SSP) reported that its net loss attributable to the shareholders for the second quarter of 2014 was $3.24 million or $0.06 per share, compared to net income of $3.19 million or $0.05 per share in the second quarter of 2013.

Acquisition-integration costs and the charges related to the withdrawal from a multi-employer pension plan reduced earnings per share by approximately 8 cents in the latest- period. The tax expense for the 2013 quarter included $1.2 million, or 2 cents per share, in favorable adjustments to the company's tax reserves.

Operating revenues for the quarter rose to $211.95 million from the prior year's $207.85 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.12 per share and revenues of $217.83 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Increases in local and political advertising, along with growth in retransmission revenue, led to a 4 percent increase in television operating revenues over second-quarter 2013 despite weaknesses in national advertising. Political advertising increased $4.5 million from the 2013 quarter.

Retransmission fees from cable and satellite providers increased 21 percent to $12.7 million.

Newspapers saw a 5.7 percent increase in subscription revenue during the 2014 quarter. Total newspaper operating revenues declined 1.3 percent, in line with the first-quarter decline.

On June 16, Scripps acquired the ABC affiliate in Buffalo and the MyNetworkTV affiliate in Detroit from Granite Broadcasting Corp. for $110 million in cash. The inclusion of operating results from these stations did not alter comparisons to the prior year.

Looking ahead for the third quarter, the company expects television revenues to be up about 30 percent, including approximately $20 million in political advertising and $15 million in retransmission revenue. Contracts covering more than one-third of the Scripps subscriber households are up this year, and about half of those were renewed at the end of the second quarter; newspaper revenues to decline low single digits and expenses to be about flat.

For the full year 2014, the company expects television revenues to be up about 20 percent, including more than $65 million in political advertising revenue; Granite revenue of more than $15 million and segment profit of $5 million.