The company that owns the National Post and other major Canadian newspapers, including the Vancouver Sun and the Ottawa Citizen, had a $25.3 million net loss in the three months ended Feb. 28.
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. said the second-quarter loss amounted to 63 cents per share.
That’s a bigger loss than during the year-earlier quarter, when the Toronto-based newspaper and online publisher had a loss of $15.8 million or 39 cents per share.
Postmedia says its revenue in the latest quarter was down 9.1% from a year ago to $162.5 million, with most of the decline from print advertising sales – following a trend that has affected the newspaper industry for several years.
The latest quarter spanned the Christmas-New Years period, historically a period of heavy ad buying.
However, Postmedia’s print advertising sales dropped by $15 million or 14.7% from a year earlier to about $89.9 million. Revenue from print circulation and digital publications also declined slightly.
Postmedia says this year’s second-quarter loss was higher primarily because of $3.6 million of expenses related to reorganizing its operations and $4.4 million in depreciation expenses, which are related to asset values.
Excluding depreciation, amortization and restructuring expenses, Postmedia’s operating income fell by 11.7% to $22.1 million from $25.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013.
“We continue to face significant print advertising revenue pressure, however we are pleased with the rapid progress we are making in the transformation of our cost structure,” Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey said in a statement.
“We are also encouraged with the progress we are making on subscriber revenue and continue to pursue real estate sales as a means of accelerating debt repayment. These priorities are key elements of repositioning the company for the digital media environment of the future.”
