Stock soars: As Progress parent company back in black
Media General chair J. Stewart Bryan vowed in March that the company would "stick around."FILE PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER
Media General, the parent company of the Daily Progress, has conducted such extreme cost-cutting measures that not only does it not appear to be in imminent danger of bankruptcy, but it actually reports that it turned a profit in the second quarter–- despite publishing revenues about 20 percent lower than they were a year ago.
Following the release of the quarterly report, Media General's stock price shot from just over $2 per share to over $5 per share.
"We continue to have a viable business," says Progress publisher Lawrence McConnell, noting that the venerable daily turns a profit.
His newspaper reportedly saved about $3 million in capital costs a year ago, when Media General shuttered its aging Charlottesville printing and mailing operation, which also served the company-owned Waynesboro daily. The move cost about 25 local jobs.
The good news for Media General was followed by profit announcements by such industry peers as as the McClatchy Co. and Gannett Co. both of which revealed Q2 profits despite drops in ad revenue similar to what Media General experienced. However, the partent company to the Dallas Morning News, A.H. Belo, reported a second quarter loss.
–last updated July 27 at 4:36pm
5 comments
The Progress isn't the only paper with profits. But cutting staff will result in less oversight by newspapers of governmental bodies and the ability to delve into local stories and uncover the facts and not just the sound-bites,a loss for us all.
NY Times 2Q Net Climbs,
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090723-715356.html
Sorry to hear that. I was hoping for a more meaningful replacement where the editor is more literate.
Media General sure is getting it's money's worth out of the current crop of reporters at the Daily Progress. I see them everywhere, and they're coverage is expanding beyond the usual party line press release that they're handed by the authorities.
Unfortunately, the Progress editorial staff, unlike their reporters are still publishing press releases and there's one today hot off the press from RWSA.
From today's DP editorial: " A discrepancy in one year's water usage projections, in a 50 year timeline, is --forgive the pun--a mere drop in the bucket."
The 24% percent drop in water usage is for a decade not one year. Dave Norris was right, we no longer need the dam plan. None of the present or future water saving devices we are all using have been factored into the overestimated Gannett Fleming 10 year old estimate. And the more water we save , the more money RWSA spends on this dam plan ( now estimated at $200 million) , the higher our rates will go.
Wake up Progress and get your facts straight !
I think the editors better read their own articles
http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/article/50-year_water_foreca...
2 dollars to 5 dollars - Time to sell that stock and take the profit.