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Knight Ridder 2Q delivers
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July 24, 1998: 7:25 a.m. ET
Newspaper publisher meets Wall Street forecasts with $66.9M profit
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Newspaper publisher Knight Ridder Inc. on Friday reported second-quarter operating earnings of $66.9 million, matching Wall Street forecasts.
Knight Ridder, the second-largest U.S. newspaper publisher with 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, said its operating profits equaled 68 cents a share, in line with First Call estimates. The company reported revenues of $779.3 million.
Those figures improve on year-ago quarter results, during which Knight Ridder reported earnings of $61 million, or 60 cents a share, on $711.7 million in revenue.
Knight Ridder's second-quarter results do not include a $60 million, or 61 cents a share, gain on the sale of its Business Information Services division. Including that item, the company posted earnings of $127 million, or $1.29 a share.
Tony Ridder, Knight Ridder chairman and chief executive officer, said the company is primed to continue its strong performance in the second half of 1998.
"The newspaper business is strong in most markets, and we continue to restructure culturally to take advantage of it," Ridder said.
"The headquarters' move to Silicon Valley -- placing us in the mainstream of Internet activity -- is well underway. The downsizing of the corporate staff and the realigning of certain key functions for greater accountability and efficiencies are a part of that move. In critical ways, Knight Ridder is already a very different organization than it was three months ago."
For the first six months of 1998, Knight Ridder reported an operating profit of $168.4 million, or $1.70 a share, on $1.5 billion in revenue, down from 1997 second-half results of $236.4 million, or $2.42 a share, on $1.3 billion in revenue.
Including the $127 million gain, Knight Ridder posted first-half earnings of $228.6 million, or $2.31 a share.
Among Knight Ridder's newspaper properties are the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Jose Mercury News and the Detroit Free Press.
Knight Ridder (KRI) shares closed at 52-1/16 in Thursday trading, up 5/16. 
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Knight Ridder
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