Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) reported Q4 EPS of $0.07, versus $0.06 reported last year. Revenue for the quarter came in at $139.7 million, versus $140.21 million reported last year.

"We are pleased with the fourth quarter operating results," said Kevin Mowbray, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Revenue was almost flat in the fourth quarter, driven by strong performance from local advertisers, significant revenue growth from TownNews, revenue from the BH Media Group management agreement, as well as an extra week of operations in 2018," Mowbray added.

"Total digital revenue, which includes digital advertising revenue and digital services revenue, increased 12.6% in the quarter and totaled $112.8 million in the fiscal year," Mowbray added. "Over the last seven years, total digital revenue on a same property basis(2) has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 8.1%, due in part to the substantial revenue growth at TownNews."

"Revenue at TownNews increased 34.5% in the quarter," said Mowbray. "On a stand-alone basis, TownNews revenue totaled $18.9 million in 2018 and over the last seven years, revenue at TownNews has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 9.7%. TownNews is growing revenue through increased market share and recent successes entering the broadcast space," Mowbray added.

"We believe we are at the top of the industry at managing the transition to digital," Mowbray added. "Our margins have remained steady for more than a decade and are currently more than double the industry average. Also, based on third party research, we believe we capture more than twice the industry average in digital market share," said Mowbray.

"We are optimistic about the future of our local media operations," Mowbray added. "We believe we can grow our business by providing high quality, trusted, local content to consumers, remaining focused on local controllable retail accounts and expanding our digital services capabilities at TownNews."

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