Tegna Inc., the broadcasting and digital-media company that
remained after the spinoff of Gannett Co.'s publishing arm, said
overall second-quarter profit fell as the publishing segment
weighed on results.
The June quarter was the first for the newly separated company,
which completed the split at the end of June. Tegna will report
publishing as a discontinued operation beginning in the third
quarter, the company said.
Tegna operates about 46 local television stations and reaches
about a third of domestic TV households, according to the company.
The firm's digital offerings include Cars.com and CareerBuilder.com
and represented nearly a quarter of the second-quarter's top
line.
Overall for the quarter, the company reported a profit of $115.9
million, down from $208.5 million a year earlier. On a per-share
basis, earnings fell to 50 cents from 90 cents. Excluding items
stemming from the restructuring, profit per share was 65 cents.
Revenue grew 4.2% to $1.52 billion.
Broadcasting revenue rose 4.8% to $417.4 million, driven by
retransmission revenue and digital revenue. A drop in political
advertising revenue—last year's was higher as it included midterm
election spending—was a partially offsetting factor.
In Tegna's digital segment, revenue surged 74% to $338.1
million. Growth was largely due to the acquisition of Cars.com,
which Gannett purchased last summer for $1.8 billion. The increase
helped offset a revenue decline in CareerBuilder.com, which was
affected by adverse currency rates and lower transactional
advertising.
Meanwhile, publishing advertising declined 11.4% to $469.8
million while publishing circulation fell 3.78% to $267.7
million.
Shares in the company, up about 26% this year, were inactive
premarket.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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