McClatchy Newspapers, owner of The News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer and 28 other daily newspapers, reported Thursday that it swung to a net loss in the fourth quarter due to a debt refinancing charge.

The company had a net loss of $30 million, or 35 cents per share, including a $60 million after-tax loss on debt refinancing. That compared with net income of $42 million, or 49 cents per share, during the fourth quarter of 2011.

McClatchy refinanced much of its debt last year at a lower interest rate and extended the maturity on the debt by five years.

Revenues for the fourth quarter were $355.7 million. The company's 2012 fourth quarter included an extra week -- 14 compared to the 13 weeks in 2011 -- and on a 13-week basis revenues were an estimated $333 million, down 5.3 percent compared to the fourth quarter in 2011.

McClatchy Newspapers Inc., owner of The News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer and 28 other daily newspapers, reported Friday that revenues declined 4.8 percent in the second quarter.

The company had net income of $26.9 million, or 31 cents per share, compared to net income of $4.9 million, or 6 cents per share, during the second quarter of 2011.

Revenues for the quarter were $299.3 million. Advertising revenues totaled $222.6 million, down 5.7 percent from the second quarter of 2011.

Digital advertising revenues, which now account for 22.5 percent of McClatchy's total advertising revenue, increased 4.9 percent.

"Despite economic headwinds, we were encouraged to see sequential improvement in advertising trends in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2012 when ad revenues were down 6.8 percent," CEO Pat Talamantes said in a statement.

McClatchy, like other newspaper publishers, has been struggling to recover from a severe decline in advertising revenue in recent years. Although the company's digital advertising revenue has been growing, it has not been growing at a fast enough rate to offset the decline in print advertising dollars.

McClatchy is also burdened with the debt from its 2006 acquisition of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain. McClatchy said it reduced its debt by $35 million in the quarter, to $1.564 billion.

The company's shares closed Thursday at $1.68. The stock is down 30 percent this year.

McClatchy, owner of The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, reported a net loss in the first quarter Wednesday as revenues declined 5 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

The company reported a net loss of $2.1 million, or 2 cents per share, equal to the loss it posted in the first quarter of 2011.

Revenues for the quarter were $288.3 million. Advertising revenues totaled $209.8 million, down 6.8 percent from the first quarter of 2011. Digital advertising revenues increased 2.7 percent and represented 22.2 percent of the company's total advertising revenues.

McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statement that the company was pleased with the advertising trends in the quarter, saying that advertising revenues were down 7.9 percent in January, 6.8 percent in February and 5.6 percent in March.

"We continue to make progress on our digital initiatives and the strong revenue results in the quarter demonstrate that digital continues to be a high-growth opportunity for the company," he said.

Pruitt announced last month that he was leaving McClatchy to take the top post at the Associated Press. His last day is May 16.

Shares of McClatchy, owner of the News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer, jumped more than 25 percent today after the Sacramento, Calif.-based newspaper chain reported fourth quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations.

The company reported net income of $42 million, or 49 cents per share, compared to income of $15.7 million, or 18 cents per share, during the fourth quarter of 2010.

That beat the consensus of 40 cents per share among analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Revenues in the fourth quarter were $351.4 million, down 5 percent from the same period in 2010. Advertising revenues were down 5.7 percent and circulation revenues were down 3 percent.
 

The New York Times is in discussions to sell its 16 regional newspapers, including three publications in North Carolina -- The Wilmington Star-News, the Hendersonville Times-News and the Lexington Dispatch.

The company confirmed the talks with Halifax Media Holdings in a release.

The Times has made a number of cost-cutting moves in recent years, including selling its headquarters building and its ownership stake in the Boston Red Sox.

The Times, along with the entire newspaper industry, has been pummeled in recent years by a dramatic downturn in advertising spending and the ongoing shift to online.

The Times recently instituted a pay wall on its website whereby readers can read a certain number of stories for free each month before they are asked to subsribe.

Smaller regional newspapers have been hit particularly hard by the decline in classified ads.
 

Newspaper publisher The McClatchy Co. reported weaker third earnings today, with ad revenues slumping 10 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Third-quarter revenue fell to $300.2 million, down 8.4 percent from a year earlier. While better than the double-digit declines the company recorded during the depths of the recession, today's results are further proof of how the weak economy is continuing to hurt newspapers.

Sacramento, Calif.-based McClatchy publishes 30 daily papers across the country, including the News & Observer, Charlotte Observer and Miami Herald. Its papers in Florida and California have been especially hard hit by the housing slump and high unemployment rate.

Net income fell to $12.4 million, or 14 cents a share.

Newspaper publisher The McClatchy Co. reported weaker sales and profit this morning, as the slump in advertising and circulation revenue continued.

Second-quarter revenue fell to $314.3 million, down 8.1 percent from a year earlier. That rate of decline was an improvement from double-digit declines during the depths of the recession, but still reflects a weak economy that's hurting the newspaper business.

Sacramento, Calif.-based McClatchy publishes 30 daily papers across the country, including the News & Observer, Charlotte Observer and Miami Herald. Its papers in Florida and California have been especially hard hit by the housing slump and high unemployment rate.

John C. Brantley and Raleigh-Durham International Airport have found it hard to say good-bye to each other, and the RDU board this week persuaded Brantley to stay a few months longer as airport director.

Brantley announced in March that he would retire July 31 from the job he has held since 1982. But board members don’t want to appoint a temporary replacement, and they asked him to stay until they hired a permanent successor.

“He’s flexible, and we certainly want to minimize any gap in leadership,” Terry Yeargan of Willow Spring, the RDU Authority board chairman, said today. “We agreed it would be good if he stayed on through the fall.” ... [MORE]

The News & Observer is transferring newsroom production work to a new center in Charlotte.

Beginning in August, the new center will perform copy editing and page design for The N&O and its community newspapers, as well as The Charlotte Observer and The Herald of Rock Hill, S.C., which also are owned by The McClatchy Co.

In all, about 25 N&O positions are being moved to the center, which will be housed in the Observer's building in Charlotte. The papers' computer servers and much of the technical support staff are in Charlotte.

All N&O copy editors and designers will have the opportunity to relocate to the new center.

"Given the new economic realities of our industry, we must find more efficient ways to deliver the very best products to our readers and advertisers, and we are confident the new center will be an important part of our future," said Orage Quarles III, publisher of The N&O.

The McClatchy Co. has sold its waterfront property in downtown Miami for $236 million, as the newspaper publisher divests some real-estate assets to bolster its financial health.

McClatchy, which is the parent corporation of The News & Observer, will use most of the money to fund its pension plan. That will free up more future profits to continue repaying the company's massive debt.

Bond-rating agency Moody's raised its outlook on McClatchy's $1.75 billion of debt to positive from stable after the news.

And McClatchy's shares rose 19 cents to $2.95 today. The stock is still down 37 percent this year.

McClatchy sold the Miami property to Genting, a Malaysian-based developer of casinos and resorts.