• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, Yesterday

Lee Enterprises, a news platform serving 72 markets, is enjoying a degree of digital success despite a harmful cyber attack earlier in the year.

Digital revenue reached $73 million in Q2, a 3% increase YoY and represented 53% of the publisher’s total operating revenue, although probably not enough. Overall revenue totaled $137.8 million, down from $146.5 million in Q2 2024. 

The company admits that the cyber attack affected its numbers.

“Our company experienced a cyber security incident in February that had a significant impact on our quarterly operating results,” says Kevin Mowbray, president and chief executive officer of Lee Enterprises. “We incurred $2 million in restoration costs in the quarter related to the cyber incident, and second quarter advertising revenue was impacted as our product portfolio was limited for a period of time. On the subscription side, our normal process for activating new digital subscribers was hampered, significantly impacting units in the quarter.”

Despite that, revenue from digital-only subscribers rose to $24 million, 17% over the prior year.

Mowbray continues, “Our second quarter results demonstrate the continued progression of our digital transformation. Digital subscription revenue continues to grow rapidly, up 20% on a same-store basis in the quarter, as we yield higher average digital subscription rates for our 728,000 digital only subscribers.”

In contrast, total print revenue amounted to $64.8 million, versus $75.7 million in Q2 2024.

The net loss was $12 million. The company achieved $40 million in annualized cost reductions in the second quarter.