Tribune Publishing Company Shares Continue To Drop, Spelling Trouble

Tribune Publishing Company has under-performed the index by 4.78% in the last month.

Revenue remained virtually flat for the quarter at $404 million; the company reported a net loss of $3.4 million. Revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis.

The company shares have dropped -56.63% from its one year high price, which occurred on Dec. 18, 2014, when the shares were at $23.73.

Tribune Publishing Company shares have dropped 10.72% during the last three-month period.

Roughly 500 Tribune Publishing employees have accepted buyout offers from the company, equal to 7% of its total workforce of around 7,300.

Tribune Publishing has recently been driving an effort to bolster its digital team (with new hires like Rajiv Pant and Mohit Pandey) as the company suffers from continuing declines in newspaper advertising revenue.

The company saw advertising declines especially in national advertising, which is integral to the company's plan to sell across its newspapers.

Tribune Publishing is trying to cut costs by $70 million this year. 

As Publishers Daily previously reported, Rupert Murdoch triggered rumors with a tweet in November suggesting Tribune Publishing would be sold in the near future.

However, the company dispelled those rumors in an internal memo to employees that read, in part: “Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a rumor was reported in social media and the press regarding a potential purchase of Tribune Publishing Company. While our policy is not to comment on rumors, given the source of this speculation and the fact that it has received considerable public attention, the company believes a statement to employees is warranted.

"As our board of directors noted earlier this fall, and as we articulated in our November earnings call, Tribune Publishing remains committed to its strategy and transformation plan and is not engaged in discussions or a process to sell the company.”