PTZ Pulitzer

Pulitzer Inc. Reports Eighth-Period Revenue for Four Weeks Ended August 29, 2004 ST. LOUIS, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pulitzer Inc. (NYSE:PTZ) today announced that revenue increased 5.6 percent for both the four-week accounting period ended August 29, 2004 and the thirty- five-week year-to-date period when compared to the respective 2003 periods. August 2004 advertising revenue in St. Louis and at the 12 Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. ("PNI") markets increased 6.7 percent, with increases of 4.6 percent at the St. Louis operations and 11.9 percent at PNI. On a comparable basis, excluding the results of PNI acquisitions absent in the comparable periods of 2003 and 2004, total revenue increased 4.8 percent for the four-week period ended August 29, 2004 and increased 4.7 percent for the thirty-five-week year-to-date period. Total comparable advertising revenue increased 5.8 percent for the four-week period ended August 29, 2004 and increased 5.7 percent for the thirty-five-week year-to-date period. Eighth period 2004 comparable advertising revenue increased 4.6 percent at the St. Louis operations and 8.8 percent at PNI. Comparable advertising revenue increased 4.5 percent at the St. Louis operations and 8.9 percent at PNI for the thirty-five-week year-to-date period. The principal components of the eighth-period comparable advertising revenue results for St. Louis and PNI were: -- Comparable retail advertising revenue, including preprints, increased 3.9 percent. Comparable retail ROP revenue increased 3.1 percent, principally due to gains in the specialty stores, grocery, home improvement, and electronic segments, as well as gains in local territory revenue, which increased 11.2 percent in St. Louis. These gains were partially offset by weakness in the department store, entertainment, and furniture categories. Comparable retail ROP revenue increased 0.9 percent in St. Louis and increased 7.3 percent at PNI. Comparable retail preprint revenue increased 9.3 percent in St. Louis and decreased 2.8 percent at PNI. -- Comparable eighth-period national advertising revenue, including preprints, decreased 8.2 percent versus 2003, principally due to weakness in the telecommunications category. Comparable national preprint revenue increased 38.2 percent for the period and comparable national ROP revenue decreased 17.0 percent. Comparable national advertising revenue, including preprints, decreased 9.6 percent in St. Louis and increased 20.0 percent at PNI. -- Comparable eighth-period classified revenue increased 11.6 percent versus 2003. Comparable Classified Advertising Revenue Percentage Change 2004 Versus 2003 Total Pulitzer, including Tucson Tucson Total Newspaper Newspaper PERIOD 8 St. Louis PNI Pulitzer Agency Agency Help Wanted 15.8% 39.5% 21.7% 29.1% 22.6% Automotive (2.7%) (7.5%) (3.8%) 9.1% (2.4%) Real Estate 9.8% 12.6% 10.7% 2.6% 10.1% Total Classified Revenue 9.9% 16.0% 11.6% 14.0% 11.8% Comparable Classified Advertising Revenue Percentage Change 2004 Versus 2003 Total Pulitzer, including Tucson Tucson Total Newspaper Newspaper Year-to-date St. Louis PNI Pulitzer Agency Agency Help Wanted 10.3% 33.4% 15.4% 35.4% 17.8% Automotive 7.1% 2.9% 6.1% 6.8% 6.2% Real Estate 8.3% 17.3% 10.9% (3.6%) 9.6% Total Classified Revenue 8.2% 16.1% 10.2% 13.4% 10.6% August 2004 revenue associated with the Company's 50 percent interest in the Tucson Newspaper Agency ("TNI") increased 6.7 percent and total advertising revenue increased 7.9 percent. TNI retail revenue, including preprints, increased 2.2 percent with a 2.0 percent decrease in retail ROP offset by a 14.9 percent increase in retail preprint revenue. Local territory revenues increased 17.9 percent for the period. TNI national revenue, including preprints, increased 41.5 percent. August classified revenue increased 14.0 percent. Pulitzer Inc., through various subsidiaries and affiliated entities, is engaged in newspaper publishing and related new media activities. The Company's newspaper operations include two major metropolitan dailies, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Ariz., and, through its Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. ("PNI") subsidiary, 12 other dailies and more than 65 weekly newspapers, shoppers and niche publications. The PNI dailies are The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.; The Daily Herald, Provo, Utah; the Santa Maria Times, Santa Maria, Calif.; The Napa Valley Register, Napa, Calif.; The World, Coos Bay, Ore.; The Sentinel, Hanford, Calif.; the Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Ariz.; The Daily Chronicle, DeKalb, Ill.; The Garden Island, Lihue, Hawaii; the Daily Journal, Park Hills, Mo.; The Lompoc Record, Lompoc, Calif.; and The Daily News, Rhinelander, Wisc. The Company's newspaper operations also include the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, a group of 38 weekly papers and various niche publications. The Company's new media and interactive initiatives include STLtoday.com in St. Louis, azstarnet.com in Tucson, and Web sites for all of its other dailies. Pulitzer Inc. is the successor to the company originally founded by Joseph Pulitzer in St. Louis in 1878. For further information, visit our Web site at http://www.pulitzerinc.com/. NOTES: Statements in this press release concerning the Company's business outlook or future economic performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses or other financial items, together with other statements that are not historical facts, are "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined under the Federal Securities Laws. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, industry cyclicality, the seasonal nature of the business, changes in pricing or other actions by competitors or suppliers (including newsprint), outcome of labor negotiations, capital or similar requirements, and general economic conditions, any of which may impact advertising and circulation revenues and various types of expenses, as well as other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in "forward-looking statements" are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such "forward-looking statements," and the Company disclaims any obligation to update the information contained herein or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to such "forward- looking statements" to reflect future events or developments. PULITZER INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES PERIOD REVENUE AND STATISTICAL REPORT (Revenue in thousands--Unaudited) Four Four 35 35 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Aug. 29, Aug. 31, Aug. 29, Aug. 31, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change (Note 3) (Note 3) Consolidated Operating Revenue (Note 1): Advertising: Retail $ 9,268 $ 8,894 4.2% $ 79,031 $ 75,700 4.4% National 1,547 1,863 (17.0%) 16,688 18,366 (9.1%) Classified 11,219 9,958 12.7% 92,615 83,051 11.5% Total 22,034 20,715 6.4% 188,334 177,117 6.3% Preprints 5,273 4,866 8.4% 42,588 39,354 8.2% Total Advertising 27,307 25,581 6.7% 230,922 216,471 6.7% Circulation 6,192 6,154 0.6% 54,880 54,181 1.3% Other 527 492 7.1% 4,760 4,628 2.9% Total $34,026 $32,227 5.6% $290,562 $275,280 5.6% Operating Revenue of Consolidated Subsidiaries: St. Louis Operations (Note 2): Advertising $19,024 $18,181 4.6% $163,580 $156,604 4.5% Circulation 4,588 4,536 1.1% 40,938 40,177 1.9% Other 139 123 13.0% 1,331 1,069 24.5% Total $23,751 $22,840 4.0% $205,849 $197,850 4.0% Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. Advertising $ 8,283 $ 7,400 11.9% $ 67,342 $ 59,867 12.5% Circulation 1,604 1,618 (0.9%) 13,942 14,004 (0.4%) Other 388 369 5.1% 3,429 3,559 (3.7%) Total $10,275 $ 9,387 9.5% $ 84,713 $ 77,430 9.4% Operating Revenue of Unconsolidated Newspaper Joint Venture: Pulitzer's 50% share of Tucson Newspaper Agency: Advertising $ 3,248 $ 3,009 7.9% $ 28,481 $ 27,417 3.9% Circulation 822 831 (1.1%) 7,651 7,730 (1.0%) Other 41 13 215.4% 304 313 (2.9%) Total $ 4,111 $ 3,853 6.7% $ 36,436 $ 35,460 2.8% Note 1 Year-to-year comparisons are affected by acquisitions of weekly newspapers within the last 12 months that complement the Company's newspapers in several markets. On a comparable basis, excluding the impact of the acquisitions for comparable ownership periods in each year, advertising and total revenues would have increased as follows: Four Weeks 35 Weeks Comparable Change Comparable Change Total Total Pulitzer PNI Pulitzer PNI Advertising Revenue 5.8% 8.8% 5.7% 8.9% Total Revenue 4.8% 6.8% 4.7% 6.3% Note 2 Includes revenues of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, St. Louis e-media operations, and STL Distribution Services. Note 3 Certain reclassifications have been made to the 2003 financial statements and statistical data to conform with the presentation made in 2004. PULITZER INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES PERIOD REVENUE AND STATISTICAL REPORT SELECTED STATISTICAL INFORMATION Four Four 35 35 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Aug. 29, Aug. 31, Aug. 29, Aug. 31, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change (Note 3) (Note 3) Advertising Linage (in thousands of inches) ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Advertising Inches Full run (all zones) Retail 51.1 60.5 (15.5%) 482.7 482.5 (0.0%) National 10.6 13.5 (21.5%) 111.7 126.4 (11.6%) Classified 77.5 81.2 (4.6%) 664.1 687.3 (3.4%) Total 139.2 155.2 (10.3%) 1,258.5 1,296.2 (2.9%) Part run (Retail/ Classified) 34.6 33.2 4.2% 338.3 318.2 6.3% Total Inches 173.8 188.4 (7.7%) 1,596.8 1,614.4 (1.1%) TUCSON NEWSPAPER AGENCY: Star/Citizen advertising inches Full run (all zones) Retail 100.2 103.6 (3.3%) 947.3 986.9 (4.0%) National 3.6 5.0 (27.4%) 47.3 59.6 (20.6%) Classified 126.5 120.1 5.3% 1,124.8 1,048.5 7.3% Total 230.3 228.7 0.7% 2,119.4 2,095.0 1.2% Part run (Retail/ Classified) (Note 3) 1.7 2.3 (23.3%) 13.9 20.3 (31.3%) Total Inches 232.0 230.9 0.5% 2,133.3 2,115.3 0.9% Circulation (Note 4): Year-to-Date Period Average Average 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Daily 285,074 279,408 2.0% 282,487 285,771 (1.1%) Sunday 447,098 469,061 (4.7%) 451,956 464,032 (2.6%) COMBINED PULITZER NEWSPAPERS, INC.: Daily 180,990 185,785 (2.6%) 189,603 190,257 (0.3%) Sunday 193,006 189,630 1.8% 188,724 190,155 (0.8%) TUCSON NEWSPAPER AGENCY: Star Daily 96,892 95,855 1.1% 104,603 103,321 1.2% Citizen Daily 30,212 31,356 (3.6%) 31,144 33,920 (8.2%) Combined Daily 127,104 127,211 (0.1%) 135,747 137,241 (1.1%) Star Sunday 159,651 161,534 (1.2%) 168,506 170,588 (1.2%) Online Page Views (in thousands) Four Four 35 35 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Aug. 29, Aug. 31, Aug. 29, Aug. 31, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 (Note 3) (Note 3) Change St. Louis 31,750 19,671 61.4% 254,026 159,280 59.5% Combined PNI Web sites 9,756 7,549 29.2% 71,648 58,548 22.4% Combined Tucson Web sites 7,004 5,603 25.0% 52,194 52,665 (0.9%) Totals 48,510 32,823 47.8% 377,868 270,493 39.7% Note 4 Year-to-date circulation levels represent averages (unaudited) for the current ABC annual audit periods ending September 30 and December 31 for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Tucson Newspaper Agency, respectively. Year-to- date PNI amounts represent combined averages (unaudited) for the annual periods ending December 31. CONTACT: James V. Maloney, Director of Shareholder Relations, of Pulitzer Inc., 314-340-8402 DATASOURCE: Pulitzer Inc. CONTACT: James V. Maloney, Director of Shareholder Relations, Pulitzer Inc. +1-314-340-8402 Web site: http://www.pulitzerinc.com/

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