The parent company of The Dallas Morning News is reporting a $2.8 million net loss for the first three months of this year, compared with a $1.6 million loss for the same period a year ago.
A. H. Belo Corporation reported the quarterly results Monday after trading markets closed. This year’s loss came despite a pandemic-related federal tax refund of $2.3 million.
To reduce expenses, the company has offered voluntary severance packages to workers in non-newsroom departments, such as finance and accounting, IT and production. As of March 31, the company had 713 employees, 9.5% fewer than a year earlier.
“It is obviously important to remain focused on revenue generation across all platforms while shaping the company’s expense structure to reflect the smaller enterprise A. H. Belo has become,” said chairman, president and CEO Robert W. Decherd in a statement.
The company also said it has a nonbinding agreement with Ray Washburne’s Charter DMN Holdings to extend his purchase of The News’ former headquarters building to June 30, 2022. Charter has a $22.4 million payment due this June.
In a conference call Tuesday to discuss the results, Decherd said the one-year extension would bring in $1 million in revenue in quarterly interest payments from Washburne, a real estate developer, restaurant operator and retail center owner. He plans to redevelop the landmark Young Street property into an entertainment district for events at the nearby Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
“It’s $1 million in income we otherwise would not be assured,” Decherd said, emphasizing that a final agreement still must be executed with Washburne. “The timing is fine with us, and the income is important.”
The pandemic has been challenging for both commercial real estate and news businesses, Decherd said.
But he said he sees “encouraging signs” in A. H. Belo’s results, such as stability in retaining print customers, an increase in digital subscription pricing and a return of advertisers that sat out the pandemic.
Digital subscriptions — key in the company’s transition from its legacy newspaper model — rose above 50,000 in the quarter, according to chief financial officer Katy Murray. The quarter closed with 50,852 digital subscribers, a 29.2% increase from the same period last year.
“The board’s commitment to investing in this growth is the best pathway to becoming a sustainably profitable digital newspaper enterprise,” Decherd said in a statement.
For the quarter, total revenue fell to $36.8 million, down 8.7% from the same period a year ago as the pandemic cut into print and digital advertising revenue and newsstand sales of The News. Expenses totaled $40.5 million for the three-month period, a 10.2% reduction from a year earlier.
The company reported a $38.1 million cash balance at the end of March, down from $42 million at the end of 2020. The cash balance rose to slightly above $39 million through April.
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April 28, 2021 at 12:04AM
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