Post-Dispatch publisher loses $51.8 million

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) -- Lee Enterprises Inc., publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other newspapers, said Thursday that its fiscal second-quarter loss narrowed because of smaller write-downs on the value of its assets.
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The Davenport-based company lost $51.8 million, or $1.16 per share, in the quarter that ended March 29, compared with a loss of $713 million, or $15.90 per share. Excluding one-time costs, its loss was 7 cents per share.

Revenue fell 20 percent to $198.8 million as advertising sales declined 24 percent. Like other newspaper publishers, Lee has faced wrenching ad declines because of the recession and the migration of advertisers to lower-cost alternatives on the Internet.

Retail ads, the company's biggest segment, fell 19 percent, while classified advertising tumbled 33 percent.

Even online advertising, where many publishers have been hanging their hopes as they shift toward delivering news on the Internet, fell 27 percent.

Lee said it will step up efforts to trim costs while it tries to wait out the recession. It now expects to cut cash expenses by 15 percent to 16 percent, or about $120 million from last year. In March, the company said it would cut costs by 12 percent to 13 percent.

Shares slid 11 cents, or 9.1 percent, to $1.10 in midday trading.