New York Times' Q1 Loss Narrows

The New York Times Company NYT revealed a net loss attributable to its shareholders of $8.27 million or a loss of $(0.05) a share. In comparison, the company reported a net loss of $14.26 million or a loss of $(0.09) a share in the year-ago quarter. According to the company, its adjusted earnings from continuing operations were $0.10 per share in the first quarter, down from $0.11 in the first quarter of 2015.

The media firm said its revenues fell 1.2 percent to $379.5 million from $384.2 million in the previous year quarter. Street analysts expected the company to earn $0.08 a share and revenue of $377.3 million.

New York Times' President and CEO, Mark Thompson commented, "The rate at which we are adding digital subscriptions continues to accelerate. This quarter, we added 67,000 net digital-only subscriptions to our news products, more quarterly additions than we have had in over three years, a 21 percent increase year-over-year and a real achievement as our pay model reaches its fifth anniversary. We have continued to prioritize deepening the level of engagement of our readers with Times content and this effort, along with the application of new consumer marketing tactics, has led to an increase in new subscribers and improved retention of existing ones."

He continued, "We had a more challenging quarter in both print and digital advertising in large part due to conditions impacting the entire advertising marketplace. We remain confident in our ability to grow our digital advertising revenue in the long term and we are continuing to invest in ad product innovation. Looking ahead into 2016 and as we have previously stated, we will be investing in several areas that we believe will increase revenue and contribute to our successful business transformation, including the investment in international expansion that we announced last month. And, as always, we intend to keep a sharp focus on our cost base."

Going forward, the New York Times said it expects its total circulation revenues in the second quarter to be similar to that of the first quarter. Similarly, its revenue from total advertising is expected to fall at a similar rate witnessed in the first quarter.

On Monday, shares closed at $12.88.