PTZ Pulitzer

Pulitzer Inc. Reports Eleventh-Period Revenue for Four Weeks Ended November 28, 2004 ST. LOUIS, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pulitzer Inc. (NYSE:PTZ) today announced that revenue increased 3.0 percent for the four-week accounting period ended November 28, 2004, and 5.3 percent for the forty- eight-week year-to-date period when compared to the respective 2003 periods. November 2004 advertising revenue in St. Louis and at the 12 Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. ("PNI") markets increased 4.2 percent, with increases of 1.0 percent at the St. Louis operations and 12.4 percent at PNI. On a comparable basis, excluding the results of PNI acquisitions absent in the comparable periods of 2004 and 2003, total revenue increased 2.5 percent for the four-week period ended November 28, 2004, and increased 4.5 percent for the forty-eight-week year-to-date period. Total comparable advertising revenue increased 3.6 percent for the four-week period ended November 28, 2004, and increased 5.3 percent for the forty-eight-week year-to-date period. Eleventh-period 2004 comparable advertising revenue increased 1.0 percent at the St. Louis operations and 10.2 percent at PNI. Comparable advertising revenue increased 3.8 percent at the St. Louis operations and 9.3 percent at PNI for the forty-eight-week year-to-date period. The principal components of the eleventh-period comparable advertising revenue results for St. Louis and PNI were: -- Comparable retail advertising revenue, including preprints, was unchanged from the previous year. Comparable retail ROP revenue decreased 6.1 percent, principally due to weakness in the major department store, entertainment, and furniture categories. In addition, St. Louis local territory revenues decreased 3.0 percent due, in part, to the absence in 2004 of revenue related to the grand opening of a new St. Louis shopping center in 2003. Comparable retail ROP revenue decreased 11.6 percent in St. Louis and increased 6.1 percent at PNI. Comparable retail preprint revenue increased 10.8 percent in St. Louis and 10.9 percent at PNI. Weakness in St. Louis retail advertising revenue reflects, in part, strong performance in November 2003, when retail revenue, including retail preprints, grew by 14.9 percent. -- Comparable eleventh-period national advertising revenue, including preprints, increased 16.7 percent versus 2003, principally due to strength in the financial, telecommunication, and automotive categories, partially offset by weakness in the pharmaceutical and travel categories. Comparable national preprint revenue increased 61.4 percent for the period and comparable national ROP revenue increased 9.2 percent. Comparable national advertising revenue, including preprints, increased 18.2 percent in St. Louis and decreased 7.1 percent at PNI. -- Comparable eleventh-period classified revenue increased 6.6 percent versus 2003. Comparable Classified Advertising Revenue Percentage Change 2004 Versus 2003 Total Pulitzer, including Tucson Tucson Total Newspaper Newspaper PERIOD 11 St. Louis PNI Pulitzer Agency Agency Help Wanted 2.6% 39.3% 10.9% 24.5% 12.7% Automotive 0.7% (9.2%) (1.8%) 6.4% (0.8%) Real Estate 2.4% 17.4% 7.6% 2.0% 7.2% Total Classified Revenue 2.6% 16.7% 6.6% 14.8% 7.5% 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 9.1% 33.3% 14.6% 30.3% 16.5% Automotive 3.9% 0.5% 3.1% 8.4% 3.7% Real Estate 7.0% 18.8% 10.5% (2.7%) 9.3% Total Classified Revenue 6.4% 16.4% 9.0% 12.3% 9.4% November 2004 revenue associated with the Company's 50 percent interest in the Tucson Newspaper Agency ("TNI") increased 9.9 percent, and total advertising revenue increased 13.0 percent. TNI retail revenue, including preprints, increased 10.7 percent with a 7.1 percent increase in retail ROP and a 19.0 percent increase in retail preprint revenue. Local territory revenues increased 7.4 percent for the period. TNI national revenue, including preprints, increased 45.1 percent, with both ROP and preprints showing solid gains. November classified revenue increased 14.8 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 48 48 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Nov. 28, Nov. 30, Nov. 28, Nov. 30, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change (Note 3) (Note 3) Consolidated Operating Revenue (Note 1): Advertising: Retail $10,732 $11,342 (5.4%) $112,433 $108,755 3.4% National 2,636 2,413 9.2% 24,414 26,362 (7.4%) Classified 9,612 8,961 7.3% 126,392 114,812 10.1% Total 22,980 22,716 1.2% 263,239 249,929 5.3% Preprints 7,654 6,696 14.3% 62,608 57,001 9.8% Total Advertising 30,634 29,412 4.2% 325,847 306,930 6.2% Circulation 6,187 6,296 (1.7%) 75,288 74,329 1.3% Other 616 622 (1.0%) 6,985 6,430 8.6% Total $37,437 $36,330 3.0% $408,120 $387,689 5.3% Operating Revenue of Consolidated Subsidiaries: St. Louis Operations (Note 2): Advertising $21,547 $21,324 1.0% $230,312 $221,962 3.8% Circulation 4,587 4,666 (1.7%) 56,185 55,100 2.0% Other 223 217 2.8% 2,351 1,622 44.9% Total $26,357 $26,207 0.6% $288,848 $278,684 3.6% Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. Advertising $ 9,087 $ 8,088 12.4% $ 95,535 $ 84,968 12.4% Circulation 1,600 1,630 (1.8%) 19,103 19,229 (0.7%) Other 393 405 (3.0%) 4,634 4,808 (3.6%) Total $11,080 $10,123 9.5% $119,272 $109,005 9.4% Operating Revenue of Unconsolidated Newspaper Joint Venture: Pulitzer's 50% share of Tucson Newspaper Agency: Advertising $ 3,950 $ 3,495 13.0% $ 40,281 $ 38,130 5.6% Circulation 884 901 (1.9%) 10,464 10,564 (0.9%) Other 40 39 2.6% 496 418 18.7% Total $ 4,874 $ 4,435 9.9% $ 51,241 $ 49,112 4.3% 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 48 Weeks Comparable Change Comparable Change Total Total Pulitzer PNI Pulitzer PNI Advertising Revenue 3.6% 10.2% 5.3% 9.3% Total Revenue 2.5% 7.7% 4.5% 6.7% 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 48 48 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Nov. 28, Nov. 30, Nov. 28, Nov. 30, 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 58.0 76.9 (24.6%) 673.2 707.4 (4.8%) National 17.7 16.7 6.0% 161.5 180.0 (10.3%) Classified 67.8 67.7 0.1% 909.9 937.7 (3.0%) Total 143.5 161.3 (11.0%) 1,744.6 1,825.1 (4.4%) Part run (Retail/ Classified) 34.3 39.8 (13.8%) 451.6 449.6 0.4% Total Inches 177.8 201.1 (11.6%) 2,196.2 2,274.7 (3.5%) TUCSON NEWSPAPER AGENCY: Star/Citizen advertising inches Full run (all zones) Retail 131.3 134.3 (2.2%) 1,323.5 1,370.5 (3.4%) National 6.2 7.7 (19.5%) 67.2 83.8 (19.8%) Classified 123.2 120.0 2.7% 1,551.9 1,447.3 7.2% Total 260.7 262.0 (0.5%) 2,942.6 2,901.6 1.4% Part run (Retail/ Classified) 2.2 2.0 10.0% 20.6 27.4 (24.8%) Total Inches 262.9 264.0 (0.4%) 2,963.2 2,929.0 1.2% Circulation (Note 4): Four Four 48 48 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Nov. 28, Nov. 30, Nov. 28, Nov. 30, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Daily 296,557 287,791 3.0% 296,978 286,740 3.6% Sunday 454,288 471,749 (3.7%) 453,929 459,000 (1.1%) COMBINED PULITZER NEWSPAPERS, INC.: Daily 202,257 193,044 4.8% 191,864 190,834 0.5% Sunday 191,629 190,433 0.6% 189,186 190,210 (0.5%) TUCSON NEWSPAPER AGENCY: Star Daily 114,309 109,412 4.5% 106,399 103,671 2.6% Citizen Daily 30,545 32,458 (5.9%) 31,056 33,464 (7.2%) Combined Daily 144,854 141,870 2.1% 137,455 137,135 0.2% Star Sunday 172,941 175,483 (1.4%) 168,302 170,444 (1.3%) Online Page Views (in thousands): Four Four 48 48 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Nov. 28, Nov. 30, Nov. 28, Nov. 30, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change (Note 3) (Note 3) St. Louis 29,603 22,332 32.6% 359,158 232,415 54.5% Combined PNI Web sites 9,300 6,989 33.1% 99,534 81,588 22.0% Combined Tucson Web sites 7,287 6,333 15.1% 73,518 72,671 (1.2%) Totals 46,190 35,654 29.5% 532,210 386,674 37.6% 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/

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