While the Journal Register ( NYSE: JRC) Company posted a net loss of $72.2 million ($1.84 per diluted share) for Q1, the publisher’s online revenues grew by 22.8 percent year-over-year. All of the Journal Register’s regions experienced online growth, with the Greater Cleveland cluster gaining more than 84 percent during the period. Online revenues accounted for 6.4 percent of total advertising revenue in Q1, versus to 4.6 percent in the prior year. The rest of of the company’s Q1 earnings were not so positive, as the Journal Register, buffeted by a darkening economy and plagued by industrywide circ and advertiser pullback saw declines elsewhere. Classified ad revenues fell 14.4 percent, while national ad dollars dropped 16.9 percent. Meanwhile, the net loss - compared to income from continuing operations of $1.5 million ($0.04 per diluted share) Q107 - included a $95.4 million non-cash charge for the “impairment of assets” relating to a write-down of the carrying value of mastheads and goodwill for the Michigan and New York clusters. Total revenues for the publisher of the New Haven Register and other regional papers were down 10.3 percent to $102.4 million from $114.1 million last year. Release

While the Journal Register ( NYSE: JRC) Company posted a net loss of $72.2 million ($1.84 per diluted share) for Q1, the publisher’s online revenues grew by 22.8 percent year-over-year. All of the Journal Register’s regions experienced online growth, with the Greater Cleveland cluster gaining more than 84 percent during the period. Online revenues accounted for 6.4 percent of total advertising revenue in Q1, versus to 4.6 percent in the prior year. The rest of of the company’s Q1 earnings were not quite so stellar. The net loss - compared to income from continuing operations of $1.5 million ($0.04 per diluted share) Q107 - includes a $95.4 million non-cash charge for the “impairment of assets” relating to a write-down of the carrying value of mastheads and goodwill for the Michigan and New York clusters. Total revenues for the publisher of the New Haven Register were down 10.3 percent to $102.4 million from $114.1 million last year. Release

Monday, April 28

• Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection Summit (through Wednesday)
  
• Before the bell: Verizon (VZ) earnings call, 8:30 a.m.
  
• After the bell: Travelzoo (TZOO) earnings call, 5:00 p.m., Microchip Technology (MCHP) earnings call, 5:00 p.m., RadioShack (RSH) earnings release.
• Mobile Monday NY: Social Search and Mobile Analytics, 7:00 p.m.
  

Tuesday, April 29

• NY Financial Information Summit 2008
• Magazine Publishers of America: All About Video Discussion, 9:00 a.m.
  
• Before the bell: McGraw-Hill (MHP) earnings call, 8:30 a.m., CBS Corp. (CBS) earnings call, 8:30 a.m., Dice Holdings (DHX) earnings call, 8:30 a.m., Martha Stewart Living (MSO) earnings call, 9:00 a.m., Office Depot (ODP) earnings call, 9:00 a.m.
  
• Midday: TheStreet.com (TSCM) earnings call, 11:00 a.m. Belo Corp (BLC) earnings call, 2:00 p.m.
  
• After the bell: DreamWorks (DWA) earnings call, 4:30 p.m., Edgar Online (EDGR) earnings call, 5:00 p.m.
• Global Seed Capital Network April Meetup, 6:00 p.m.
• NY Video 2.0 Meetup, 6:30 p.m.
  
• OneWebDay April Meetup, 8:00 p.m.
  

Wednesday, April 30

• TDWI Seminar on "Performance Dashboards in Action," 8:30 a.m.
  
• Before the bell: Interpublic Group (IPG) earnings call, 8:30 a.m., Time Warner Cable (TWC) earnings call, 8:30 a.m., OfficeMax (OMX) earnings webcast, 9:00 a.m.
  
• Midday: Time Warner Inc. (TWX) earnings call, 10:30 a.m., InterActiveCorp (IACI) earnings call, 11:00 a.m.
  
• After the bell: Akamai (AKAM) earnings call, 4:30 p.m., Starbucks (SBUX) earnings call, 5:00 p.m., Symantec Corp (SYMC) earnings call, 5:00 p.m., Shutterfly (SFLY) earnings call, 5:00 p.m., InfoSpace (INSP) earnings call, 5:00 p.m.
• Issues in Tech Management: Featuring CSFB's Steve Yatko, 6:00 p.m.
• Web Analytics Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.
  
• NY BizConnection April Meetup, 6:30 p.m.
  
• NY Business Innovative Tech April Meetup, 6:30 p.m.
• SEMPO NY Working Group Meetup: Search Engine Marketing, 6:30 p.m.
• Digital Wednesdays: Meetup for Online Media Professionals, 7:00 p.m.
• NYC Grassroots Tech: Focus on NYCLU, 7:00 p.m.
  

Thursday, May 1

• Before the bell: Comcast (CMCSA) earnings call, 8:30 a.m., Hearst Argyle (HTV) earnings call, 9:30 a.m.
• Open Coffee Meetup, 9:15 a.m.
  
• Midday: Thomson Reuters (TRI) earnings call, 10:00 a.m., DigiMarc (DMRC) earnings call, 11:00 a.m., Expedia, Inc (EXPE) earnings call, 11:00 a.m.
  
• After the bell: comScore (SCOR) earnings call, 4:30 p.m., Sun Microsystems (JAVA) earnings call, 4:30 p.m., Digital River (DRIV) earnings call, 4:45 p.m., LivePerson (LPSN) earnings call, 5:00 p.m., Monster Inc. (MNST) earnings call, 5:00 p.m., Getty Images (GYI) earnings release
• CrunchNetwork's Meetup, 7:00 p.m.
• Enhancing the Consumer Video Experience, 7:30 p.m.
  

Friday, May 2

• Before the bell: Viacom (VIA) earnings call, 8:30 a.m.
  
• Midday: Journal Register (JRC) annual meeting, 11:00 a.m.
  
• After the bell: Washington Post (WPO) earnings release
  

Journal Register ( NYSE: JRC), publisher of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, announced Q1 revenue of $134.3 million, a 6.2 percent decline from $143.2 million in the year-ago period. Net income fell 23.7 percent to $6.3 million ($.10 per share) from $8.2 million ($.12 per share). The company cited the weak economy for the decline, particularly the pain to the classifieds business. Interactive revenue, which is not growing at all of the company’s peers, was up 17.1 percent to $3.6 million, so still a tiny sliver of the total operation. JRN says it expects a further weakening of the top line next quarter. -- Separately it announced that march revenue fell 8.9 percent to $44.5 million. Interactive revenue was up 17.9 percent to $1.37 million. Release. Release | Webcast (11:00 AM ET)

Unlike other companies that would scratch and claw to delay the inevitable by a few more months, troubled newspaper publisher Journal Register ( NYSE: JRC) is going peacefully: the company has confirmed that it won’t appeal a NYSE delisting notice, and that effective tomorrow, it will no longer trade on the NYSE. The company was warned by the exchange earlier this month that its sub-$1.00 share price made it non-compliant, and that it had 10 days to come up with some sort of plan to turn things around. That news, coupled with an announcement a couple days later that it had hired an investment bank to explore strategic options, just sent the stock in the wrong direction. On the eve of its delisting, shares are trading at around $0.33. So why is JRC teetering on worthlessness, despite the fact that it’s still a profitable enterprise? A burdensome debt load, brought on by an untimely acquisition, as Alan Mutter explains: “The company’s debt, which amounts to an untenable seven times its operating earnings for the last 12 months, is now rated at Caa1 by Moody’s Investor Services, which means the rating agency believes the company has better than a 1 in 3 chance of default. Moody’s is concerned that the company cannot generate enough cash to cover the debt repayments scheduled for 2009. The largest portion of the debt that threatens to force JRC into bankruptcy resulted from the acquisition for $415 million in 2004 of a group of community papers concentrated around economically distressed Detroit. To date, the company has been forced to write off $215 million, or nearly 52%, of the value of those assets.” -- Sun-Times Media Group is in a similar boat: The Sun-Times faces delisting and has hired an investment bank to explore strategic options. How’s that process going? Chicago Tribune media columnist Phil Rosenthal (via Romenesko) claims to have got his hand on an internal memo prepared by Lazard touting the company as a rare, prestigious asset, perfect for a would-be Sam Zell. The memo also argues that the company is back on the path towards profitability, though Rosenthal suggests that it’s ignoring certain tax issues that could torpedo its rejuvenation. Bear in mind that Rosenthal is taking some shots at the crosstown paper. Always rivals, tension between the two recently became a bit more heated, you may have heard, after a Chicago Tribune intern won a Sun-Times video contest designed to make fun of Zell. The video and the story from Tribune’s perspective are here.

In January I predicted (see Notable Bankruptcies of 2009: Q1) that “major” bankruptcies in 2009 would challenge the 383 mark set in 2001 (the high-water mark after the dotcom bubble). I even suggested that it was possible that we could exceed 400 “major” bankruptcies in 2009.[More...]

In January I predicted (see Notable Bankruptcies of 2009: Q1) that “major” bankruptcies in 2009 would challenge the 383 mark set in 2001 (the high-water mark after the dotcom bubble). I even suggested that it was possible that we could exceed 400 “major” bankruptcies in 2009. According to Bankruptcydata.com, there have been 156 “major” filings thus far in 2009. Assuming that bankruptcies are equally distributed throughout the year, this puts us on pace for 312 bankruptcies. That is tracking well shy of my prediction. In fact, bankruptcies were down significantly from Q1 to Q2, as there were 90 bankruptcies in the first quarter but only 66 in the second. That stylized fact begs the question: Is that a “green shoot”[More...]

In January I predicted (see Notable Bankruptcies of 2008) that “major” bankruptcies in 2009 would challenge the 383 mark set in 2001 (the high-water mark after the dotcom bubble). I even suggested that it was possible that we could exceed 400 “major” bankruptcies in 2009. According to Bankruptcydata.com, there have been 90 “major” filings thus far in 2009. Assuming that bankruptcies are equally distributed throughout the year, this puts us on pace for 360 bankruptcies. I fully expect the filing pace to quicken as the year goes on, and as the economy continues to deteriorate. Below you can find an updated list of what I see as the “noteworthy” bankruptcies of 2009, as reported by <a[More...]

photo credit: qnr This article is a reprint of my February 21, 2008 RealMoney column The last year hasn’t been a good time to own a newspaper. The best performing stock was Washington Post (WPO), which managed not to decline significantly. New York Times (NYT) and Gannett (GCI - Annual Report) are down as much as [...]

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COHT Cohesant Technologies Inc 6.00
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