The New York Times Company
(NYSE:NYT) moved down marginally today after reporting April sales 2.2
percent lower on weakness in all of its print media groups. Ad revenues
dropped 3.6 percent from $203.4 million to $196 million while total
revenues dropped from $303.2 million to $203.4 million. Analysts and
investors continue to attribute the drop to an overall decline in the
print advertising market as more and more users turn to online sources
for their news and information.
This thesis is confirmed when we
look at the company's internet sales, which climbed 15.6 percent in all
three groups. Moreover, it's About.com segment saw its ad revenues soar
26.6% to $187.1 million. It is worth noting, however, that even these
growth rates are much lower than other large web properties. The NYT
has the 11th largest presence on the web and if it does not quickly act
to extract more revenue and greater growth figures, it may fall behind
in that arena too.
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