The New York Times Should Sell About.com
Up)
From 247WallSt
Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Chairman of The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) made this comment in the company's proxy: "we believe About.com is now worth at least twice what we paid for it."
Fine. Then sell it. NYT paid $410 million for About.com in 2005.
According to Comscore, the New York Times Digital sites have over 70 million unique monthly users. And, the visitors to NYTimes.com, Boston.com, and IHT.com belong in the group. They are strategic online extensions of the company's print properties.
About.com is not even doing particularly well. During the first quarter, its revenue rose less than 24% to $22.5 million. But, expenses grew faster, so operating profit rose less than 16% to $11.5 million.
Sulzberger is saying that About.com is worth almost 9x revenue. It has no strategic connection to the company. And, NYT needs to pay down debt.
For $800 million, About.com should be dumped.
Douglas A. McIntyre
For more calls go to http://www.247wallst.com/
Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Chairman of The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) made this comment in the company's proxy: "we believe About.com is now worth at least twice what we paid for it."
Fine. Then sell it. NYT paid $410 million for About.com in 2005.
According to Comscore, the New York Times Digital sites have over 70 million unique monthly users. And, the visitors to NYTimes.com, Boston.com, and IHT.com belong in the group. They are strategic online extensions of the company's print properties.
About.com is not even doing particularly well. During the first quarter, its revenue rose less than 24% to $22.5 million. But, expenses grew faster, so operating profit rose less than 16% to $11.5 million.
Sulzberger is saying that About.com is worth almost 9x revenue. It has no strategic connection to the company. And, NYT needs to pay down debt.
For $800 million, About.com should be dumped.
Douglas A. McIntyre
For more calls go to http://www.247wallst.com/
You May Also Be Interested In
- American Science and Engineering, Inc. Named to Boston Globe 100 for the Seventh Year in a Row
- Ameresco Ranks 29th in The Boston Globe’s Annual Globe 100 Top Performing Massachusetts Companies
- Globe 100 Annual List to Feature 100 Companies for First Time since 2009, Illustrating Resurgence of the Massachusetts Economy
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
ContributorsSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
