Meredith Slips To Loss In Q1; Affirms FY19 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Meredith Corp. (MDP), a media and marketing company, on Wednesday reported net earnings for the first quarter of $17.0 million, down from $33.4 million in the year-ago period. Loss per share for the quarter was $0.06, compared to earnings of $0.73 per share in the prior-year period.

The latest quarter's results include net special items of $14 million, primarily related to restructuring and integration costs.

Revenue for the quarter surged to $756.7 million from $392.8 million in the same period last year.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report loss of $0.20 per share for the quarter on revenues of 751.54 million. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Meredith forecasts revenues in a range of $850 million to $870 million. The company also expects earnings from continuing operations to range from $78 million to $85 million, including non-cash depreciation and amortization of about $64 million and net interest expense of about $40 million. These amounts do not include special items.

Analysts expect earnings of $1.19 per share for the quarter on revenues of $839.76 million.

For fiscal 2019, Meredith affirmed its outlook for revenues in a range of $3.0 billion to $3.2 billion and adjusted earnings from continuing operations in a range of $2.78 to $3.20 per share, both unchanged from original guidance communicated on August 10, 2018.

The Street expects earnings of $3.16 per share for the year on revenues of $3.11 billion.

In addition, the company reaffirmed its goals for $1 billion of debt reduction in fiscal 2019 and for $1 billion of EBITDA in fiscal 2020.