McClatchy Company (MNI) Reports Q1 EPS Loss of $5.43, Revenues Miss

McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) reported Q1 EPS of ($5.34), $3.52 worse than the analyst estimate of ($1.82). Revenue for the quarter came in at $180.3 million versus the consensus estimate of $184.69 million.

"The first quarter adjusted EBITDA marks the second consecutive quarter of improving trends in operating results," said Craig Forman, McClatchy\'s President and CEO. "This reflects our discipline in controlling costs while we make strategic investments in our digital transformation."

The first quarter of 2019 marks the company's twelfth consecutive quarter of growth in digital subscriptions, and the most significant year-over-year growth in that time. When coupled with the company's combination print/digital subscriptions, where customers have activated their digital products, total paid digital customer relationships were at 474,400 at the end of the first quarter of 2019, up 34% from 353,900 a year earlier.

"Our focus on paid digital subscriber growth is a key performance measure in our continuing digital transformation and a contributor to improving our audience revenue trend this quarter," said Forman. "We have tightened our paywalls, improved our ability to convert viewers to paid subscribers and sharpened our targeting for our digital products. As a result, we achieved nearly 60% growth in digital-only subscriptions, reaching 179,100 at the end of the first quarter of 2019."

Forman added, "We continue to be strategic and resolved in taking costs out of the business while making key investments to boost revenue generation. During the quarter we invested in our digital advertising team, adding new leaders to our functional organization structure with a dedicated focus on our customers to drive digital revenue and create new efficiencies.

"We are excited by the improvements we are seeing in our business and we remain firm in our commitment to independent local journalism in the public interest. In this regard we had a very strong quarter capped by award-winning reporting and commentary in our markets from Kansas City to Miami to the Carolinas and California."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on McClatchy Company (MNI) click here.

You May Also Be Interested In

• American Express (AXP) down despite beating Q1 estimates on top and bottom lines
• Mondi Says It Does Not Intend To Make An Offer For DS Smith
• Acme United (ACU) Misses Q1 EPS by 20c