PTZ Pulitzer

Pulitzer Inc. Reports Ninth-Period Revenue for Four Weeks Ended September 26, 2004 ST. LOUIS, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pulitzer Inc. (NYSE:PTZ) today announced that revenue increased 4.9 percent for the four-week accounting period ended September 26, 2004 and 5.5 percent for the thirty-nine-week year-to-date period when compared to the respective 2003 periods. September 2004 advertising revenue in St. Louis and at the 12 Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. ("PNI") markets increased 5.2 percent, with increases of 1.7 percent at the St. Louis operations and 14.5 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 4.4 percent for the four-week period ended September 26, 2004 and increased 4.7 percent for the thirty-nine-week year-to-date period. Total comparable advertising revenue increased 4.6 percent for the four-week period ended September 26, 2004 and increased 5.6 percent for the thirty-nine-week year-to- date period. Ninth-period 2004 comparable advertising revenue increased 1.7 percent at the St. Louis operations and 12.3 percent at PNI. Comparable advertising revenue increased 4.2 percent at the St. Louis operations and 9.2 percent at PNI for the thirty-nine-week year-to-date period. The principal components of the ninth-period comparable advertising revenue results for St. Louis and PNI were: -- Comparable retail advertising revenue, including preprints, increased 10.8 percent. Comparable retail ROP revenue increased 4.7 percent, principally due to gains in the specialty stores, grocery, home improvement, and department store segments, as well as gains in local territory revenue, which increased 11.9 percent in St. Louis. These gains were partially offset by weakness in the electronics, entertainment, and furniture categories. Comparable retail ROP revenue increased 2.3 percent in St. Louis and increased 9.5 percent at PNI. Comparable retail preprint revenue increased 31.5 percent in St. Louis and 11.5 percent at PNI. -- Comparable ninth-period national advertising revenue, including preprints, decreased 21.8 percent versus 2003, principally due to weakness in the pharmaceutical and travel categories, partially offset by gains in the telecommunication segment. Comparable national preprint revenue decreased 41.4 percent for the period and comparable national ROP revenue decreased 16.7 percent. Comparable national advertising revenue, including preprints, decreased 22.9 percent in St. Louis and increased 2.4 percent at PNI. -- Comparable ninth-period classified revenue increased 4.3 percent versus 2003. Comparable Classified Advertising Revenue Percentage Change 2004 Versus 2003 Total Pulitzer, including Tucson Tucson Total Newspaper Newspaper PERIOD 9 St. Louis PNI Pulitzer Agency Agency Help Wanted 3.8% 35.3% 11.1% 14.8% 11.6% Automotive (12.8%) (3.8%) (10.8%) 17.7% (7.8%) Real Estate 5.3% 18.3% 9.2% (2.2%) 8.2% Total Classified Revenue 0.0% 16.4% 4.3% 6.2% 4.5% 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 9.6% 33.6% 15.0% 32.9% 17.1% Automotive 4.8% 2.3% 4.2% 7.9% 4.6% Real Estate 7.9% 17.4% 10.7% (3.5%) 9.4% Total Classified Revenue 7.3% 16.1% 9.6% 12.6% 9.9% September 2004 revenue associated with the Company's 50 percent interest in the Tucson Newspaper Agency ("TNI") increased 10.4 percent and total advertising revenue increased 11.9 percent. TNI retail revenue, including preprints, increased 14.3 percent with a 6.4 percent increase in retail ROP and a 38.3 percent increase in retail preprint revenue. Local territory revenues increased 12.9 percent for the period. TNI national revenue, including preprints, increased 41.7 percent. September classified revenue increased 6.2 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, Wis. 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 39 39 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. 26, 28, 26, 28, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change (Note 3) (Note 3) Consolidated Operating Revenue (Note 1): Advertising: Retail $ 9,823 $ 9,300 5.6% $ 88,854 $ 85,000 4.5% National 2,001 2,402 (16.7%) 18,689 20,768 (10.0%) Classified 10,768 10,267 4.9% 103,383 93,318 10.8% Total 22,592 21,969 2.8% 210,926 199,086 5.9% Preprints 5,429 4,669 16.3% 48,017 44,023 9.1% Total Advertising 28,021 26,638 5.2% 258,943 243,109 6.5% Circulation 6,239 6,142 1.6% 61,119 60,323 1.3% Other 696 536 29.9% 5,456 5,164 5.7% Total $34,956 $33,316 4.9% $325,518 $308,596 5.5% Operating Revenue of Consolidated Subsidiaries: St. Louis Operations (Note 2): Advertising $19,714 $19,382 1.7% $183,294 $175,986 4.2% Circulation 4,673 4,569 2.3% 45,611 44,746 1.9% Other 331 131 152.7% 1,662 1,200 38.5% Total $24,718 $24,082 2.6% $230,567 $221,932 3.9% Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. Advertising $ 8,307 $ 7,256 14.5% $ 75,649 $ 67,123 12.7% Circulation 1,566 1,573 (0.4%) 15,508 15,577 (0.4%) Other 365 405 (9.9%) 3,794 3,964 (4.3%) Total $10,238 $ 9,234 10.9% $ 94,951 $ 86,664 9.6% Operating Revenue of Unconsolidated Newspaper Joint Venture: Pulitzer's 50% share of Tucson Newspaper Agency: Advertising $ 3,446 $ 3,079 11.9% $ 31,927 $ 30,496 4.7% Circulation 841 846 (0.6%) 8,492 8,576 (1.0%) Other 85 35 142.9% 389 348 11.8% Total $ 4,372 $ 3,960 10.4% $ 40,808 $ 39,420 3.5% Note 1 Year-to-year comparisons are affected by acquisitions of weekly newspapers, shoppers, and niche publications 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 39 Weeks Comparable Change Comparable Change Total Total Pulitzer PNI Pulitzer PNI Advertising Revenue 4.6% 12.3% 5.6% 9.2% Total Revenue 4.4% 9.1% 4.7% 6.6% 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 39 39 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. 26, 28, 26, 28, 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 56.3 60.4 (6.8%) 539.0 542.9 (0.7%) National 12.3 15.6 (21.2%) 124.0 142.0 (12.7%) Classified 80.0 86.2 (7.2%) 744.1 773.5 (3.8%) Total 148.6 162.2 (8.4%) 1,407.1 1,458.4 (3.5%) Part run (Retail/ Classified) 33.6 41.9 (19.8%) 371.9 360.1 3.3% Total Inches 182.2 204.1 (10.7%) 1,779.0 1,818.5 (2.2%) TUCSON NEWSPAPER AGENCY: Star/Citizen advertising inches Full run (all zones) Retail 108.6 106.4 2.1% 1,055.9 1,093.3 (3.4%) National 5.6 5.9 (5.1%) 52.9 65.5 (19.2%) Classified 135.8 123.6 9.9% 1,260.6 1,172.1 7.6% Total 250.0 235.9 6.0% 2,369.4 2,330.9 1.7% Part run (Retail/ Classified) (Note 3) 1.8 2.2 (18.2%) 15.7 22.5 (30.2%) Total Inches 251.8 238.1 5.8% 2,385.1 2,353.4 1.3% Circulation (Note 4): Year-to-Date Period Average Average 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Daily 293,789 296,749 (1.0%) 283,362 286,619 (1.1%) Sunday 462,674 461,852 0.2% 452,626 463,850 (2.4%) COMBINED PULITZER NEWSPAPERS, INC.: Daily 191,967 190,904 0.6% 189,845 190,324 (0.3%) Sunday 187,598 190,659 (1.6%) 188,609 190,207 (0.8%) TUCSON NEWSPAPER AGENCY: Star Daily 108,066 101,042 7.0% 104,988 103,068 1.9% Citizen Daily 30,652 32,021 (4.3%) 31,088 33,709 (7.8%) Combined Daily 138,718 133,063 4.2% 136,076 136,777 (0.5%) Star Sunday 163,095 164,850 (1.1%) 167,904 169,950 (1.2%) Online Page Views (in thousands) Four Four 39 39 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. 26, 28, 26, 28, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change (Note 3) (Note 3) St. Louis 30,938 21,677 42.7% 284,964 180,957 57.5% Combined PNI Web sites 9,222 8,020 15.0% 80,870 66,568 21.5% Combined Tucson Web sites 6,784 6,934 (2.2%) 58,978 59,599 (1.0%) Totals 46,944 36,631 28.2% 424,812 307,124 38.3% 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. DATASOURCE: Pulitzer Inc. CONTACT: James V. Maloney, Director of Shareholder Relations of Pulitzer Inc., +1-314-340-8402 Web site: http://www.pulitzerinc.com/

Copyright