After a number of one-time expenses and gains were factored in, Journal Communications saw revenue from continued operations fall 7.3% to $147.5 million in the first quarter, compared to the same period last year. The decline was due largely to a 7.4% dip in publishing revenues, which ended at $67.6 million. Meanwhile, net earnings fell 17% to $14.2 million. Journal foresees overall publishing revenues for the year ending lower than 2006.
Lee Enterprises emerged from the quarter relatively unscathed--recording only a 3.2% decline in revenues compared to 2006, to $281.4 million. As with Journal Communications, this was due largely to a 3.1% slip in total ad revenue, as well as a 13.6% drop in circulation revenue.
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Both companies were quick to point to interactive revenues as a bright spot in their otherwise gloomy balance sheets: the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, flagship paper of Journal Communications, enjoyed an online revenue boom of 46.9%, ending the quarter at $3.4 million. And Mary Junck, chairman and CEO of Lee, noted that "our rapid online growth has accelerated to a rate of more than 60% in the last quarter and now accounts for almost 8% of our advertising revenue, surpassing national."
While print classifieds are tanking, online classifieds are proving to be a key area of revenue growth for both companies. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently inked a deal with Monster.com, and this past spring, Lee Enterprises rolled out Yahoo's HotJobs platform on its network of newspaper Web sites.