Lower costs help E.W. Scripps rise to 4Q profit from loss, mulls possible sale of United Media

E.W. Scripps climbs to 4Q profit from loss

CINCINNATI — Newspaper publisher and TV station owner E.W. Scripps Co. said Tuesday that reduced restructuring costs offset sliding revenue and helped lift the company to a fourth-quarter profit.

The company also said it’s exploring a possible sale of all or part of its United Media licensing unit. United Media owns the rights to a host of familiar cartoon characters, including Peanuts and Dilbert.

Scripps earned $12 million, or 19 cents per share, in the fourth quarter. That compares with a loss of $12.6 million, or 24 cents per share, in the prior-year period.

The 2009 quarter included just $3.6 million worth of restructuring costs versus $36.9 million the year before when the company spun off Scripps Networks Interactive. The company also trimmed other expenses by 17 percent.

The lower costs helped counter an 18 percent drop in revenue to $217.4 million from $264.9 million. Scripps said local and national advertising revenue for its 10 TV stations “bounced back nicely” in the fourth quarter due to higher spending by retailers, but political ad sales fell. The advertising climate at newspapers remains weak, with Scripps booking double-digit declines in all categories except for online ad revenue, which fell 5 percent.

Scripps plans to keep cutting costs so that it can run a viable business even if revenue doesn’t rebound to levels of recent years — a sign that management isn’t expecting a significant recovery at its newspapers.

“Newspaper advertising declines are moderating, and we’re well down the road toward restructuring our operations for success on a smaller — but still attractive — base of local print and online advertising,” said CEO Rich Boehne in a statement.

Scripps said it could sell all or part of its United Media, or set up a joint venture deal. The company also said it may decide to continue to operate the business on its own.

“The recent interest and activity in the market for character-based properties make this an appropriate time to determine if more long-term value will be created for our shareholders by continuing to operate the business or finding another alternative,” said Boehne.

Looking ahead, Scripps said economic uncertainty still weighs on advertisers. But it believes the generally improving trends seen in the fourth quarter will continue into the 2010 first quarter.

For the year, Scripps narrowed its loss to $209.6 million, or $3.89 per share, from a loss of $476.6 million, or $8.81 per share. Both years included hefty impairment charges: $216.4 million for 2009 and $810 million for 2008.

Revenue fell 20 percent to $802.4 million from $1 billion.

Shares of Scripps, based in Cincinnati, rose 31 cents, or 4 percent, to $7.29 in afternoon trading.