Time Inc. Mag Revs Down, Digital Up

Now approaching the end of its first year as a stand-alone company, magazine publisher Time Inc. reported a revenue decline in the first quarter of 2015. The drop was partly due to currency fluctuations and the impact of several discontinued operations. However, revenues also suffered from an organic decline.

Time Inc. announced that total revenues decreased 9% from $745 million in the first quarter of 2014 to $680 million in the first quarter of 2015. Around $9 million of this drop was attributed to the decline of the British pound against the U.S. dollar, while another $19 million resulted from the termination of CNNMoney.com, the company’s collaboration with CNN for financial news.

Time Inc. also divested its Mexican publishing operation, Grupo Editorial Expansion.

With these factors removed from the comparison, Time Inc.’s revenues would still have declined 5%, due mostly to a 5% decline in ad revenues to $353 million -- again when those factors aren’t included. Print and other ad revenues were down 10% to $280 million, while digital advertising revenues edged up 1% to $73 million.

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In proportional terms, digital ads now make up 21% of total ad revenues for the company.

Adjusted for currency fluctuations and discontinued operations, total circulation revenues fell 5% to $250 million, due mostly to a 7% drop in subscription revenues to $165 million. Time Inc. attributed the decrease to falling demand for print subscriptions. Newsstand revenues were also down 6% to $77 million.

On the positive side, foreign currency fluctuations also decreased production costs overseas, driving total production costs down 9% to $160 million -- as well as editorial costs, down 18% to $89 million.

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