New York Times Plans Job Cuts

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Monday June 18 11:01 PM ET

New York Times Plans Job Cuts

NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT - news) will cut up to 9 percent of its work force this year as it copes with declining advertising revenue, but said it still expects to meets Wall Street's earnings expectations for both the coming quarter and year.

In a statement released Monday, the company, which announced in April it would start reducing its staff of 14,000 workers, said a drop in advertising revenue will cause its fiscal 2001 revenue to fall short of levels from last year.

``Since the beginning of the year, the newspaper industry, including our company, has seen a swift and steep decline in advertising revenues from the record level of last year,'' said Russell T. Lewis, president and chief executive.

Lewis said the company has moved to counter the revenue decline by increasing circulation prices cutting back on newsprint use and phasing out part of its Internet operations. It also plans to cut its work force by about 8 to 9 percent - roughly 1,200 workers, though the company did not provide an exact figure.

Aside from its flagship newspaper, the New York Times Co. also owns 16 other newspapers, including the Boston Globe; eight television stations; and a pair of New York radio stations.

The company said it expects to save $35 million to $40 million this year by reducing staff, including voluntary buyouts, layoffs and eliminating open positions.

Lewis said the moves will result in the company recording second quarter earnings of 43 cents per share, the consensus of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. In the same quarter a year ago, the company reported earnings of 59 cents a share.

The company also expects its full-year earnings will be in the ``upper range'' of analysts' estimates of $1.98 a share, down from the $2.10 it posted for fiscal 2000.

``If the expected improvement in the economy does not materialize in the fourth quarter, we still believe we can at least meet the current consensus earnings estimate for the year,'' Lewis said.

The New York Times is one of several newspaper companies that have trimmed jobs in light of the current industry climate. Also on Monday, Knight Ridder said it was in the process of cutting an additional 1,700 jobs, bringing the total cuts it has announced this year to about 10 percent of its work force.

Shares of the New York Times were down 57 cents to close at $37.93 on the New York Stock Exchange.

-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), June 19, 2001

Answers

The company is going to counter declining advertising revenures by raising subscription prices. In other words, when the room gets too hot, turn up the heat. Wow! That sure is great business wisdom.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), June 19, 2001.

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