TheEnforcer
04-15-2005, 12:42 PM
http://www.nypost.com/business/42637.htm
By PAUL THARP
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April 15, 2005 -- The head of The Wall Street Journal's empire, Peter Kann, could be sweating over his job, again.
Earnings plunged by 54 percent at the newspaper's parent Dow Jones & Co., with its fledgling online operations earning more money for the first time than the flagship Journal and the weekly Barron's.
Kann blamed the slump on weak advertising at the Journal, which lost 8 percent of its ads in the first quarter and expects the slump to continue.
The advertising problems at the financial publishing giant seeped into the market, as well, as the stock fell 4.6 percent yesterday, to $35.46, off $1.72. Shares are off 24 percent in the last 12 months.
First-quarter profit fell to $8.2 million, or 10 cents a diluted share, from $17.8 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier.
Quarterly revenue rose to $412.1 million, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier, despite an 8 percent decline in ad linage at the U.S. edition of the newspaper.
Although Kann bought some peace in recent months by siding with the founding Bancroft family in a boardroom showdown over family control of the company stock, Kann's performance in the past several years may not impress investors much longer, analysts say.
By PAUL THARP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 15, 2005 -- The head of The Wall Street Journal's empire, Peter Kann, could be sweating over his job, again.
Earnings plunged by 54 percent at the newspaper's parent Dow Jones & Co., with its fledgling online operations earning more money for the first time than the flagship Journal and the weekly Barron's.
Kann blamed the slump on weak advertising at the Journal, which lost 8 percent of its ads in the first quarter and expects the slump to continue.
The advertising problems at the financial publishing giant seeped into the market, as well, as the stock fell 4.6 percent yesterday, to $35.46, off $1.72. Shares are off 24 percent in the last 12 months.
First-quarter profit fell to $8.2 million, or 10 cents a diluted share, from $17.8 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier.
Quarterly revenue rose to $412.1 million, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier, despite an 8 percent decline in ad linage at the U.S. edition of the newspaper.
Although Kann bought some peace in recent months by siding with the founding Bancroft family in a boardroom showdown over family control of the company stock, Kann's performance in the past several years may not impress investors much longer, analysts say.