Postmedia revenue down for Q1

A 21% drop in print advertising revenue was the main factor behind the decline.
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Postmedia is reporting a 14.4% decline in revenues in its first quarterly operating results for its fiscal year – the period that ended Nov. 30, 2016.

Revenue for the quarter was $214.9 million, a decrease of $31.1 million over the same period in 2015.

Print advertising declines continue to be the main factor behind the drop. In Q1, Postmedia’s print ad revenue dropped $31.1 million or 21.9%. Print circulation revenue dropped $6.1 million or 9%.

Digital advertising saw a slight uptick, increasing by $1.2 million or 4.1%. That’s a much larger increase than the 0.1% bump that was announced in Q4 2016, while print ad revenue declines are on par with the 21.3% drop seen in the last report.

Net income for the quarter was $17.8 million, compared with a loss of $4.2 million for the same period last year. That change was primarily due to a gain on debt resettlement realized as part of Postmedia’s recapitalization transaction. That gain, however, was partially offset by an operating loss that includes a $21.6 million non-cash impairment charge.

During the first quarter, Postmedia implemented cost reduction initiatives that are expected to result in $18 million of net annualized cost savings. Those initiatives included the beginning of its plan to cut staffing costs by 20%, which was announced during Postmedia’s fourth quarter report. A representative for Postmedia confirmed that the company didn’t reach its 20% goal during the quarter, but it does expect to reach the salary cost reduction targets in Q2.

A release on its first quarter earnings Thursday said that Postmedia will continue to identify ways to cut costs further in order to address the declines the company continues to see in its legacy print business.

 

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