Ad environment not improving, says Pruitt

McClatchy Co expects a lower quarterly profit from continuing operations and will record a charge to net earnings to account for a declining share price.

McClatchy said it was still carrying out impairment testing of goodwill and other long-lived assets and will issue final results when it files with U.S. securities regulators.

The company reported preliminary fourth-quarter profit from continuing operations of $33.2 million, or 40 cents per share. from $76.9 million, or 94 cents per share. It cited a deeper downturn in print advertising, particularly in California and Florida.

"The advertising environment in 2008 does not appear to be improving," McClatchy Chief Executive Gary Pruitt said in a statement. "In fact, in January we've seen headwinds from a worsening national economy."

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Pruitt said he expected advertising would be down in the low-double-digit percentage range in the first quarter.

Net profit before the expected charge was $30.1 million, or 37 cents, on a preliminary basis. Revenue fell to $573.4 million from $673.6 million.

Advertising revenue fell 9.3 percent from a year earlier, and circulation revenue dropped 7.8 percent.

McClatchy publishes the Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and more than two dozen other newspapers.

McClatchy's shares traded 19 cents higher at $10.54 on the New York Stock Exchange.