Lee reports decline in earnings, revenues and debt
Davenport-based Lee Enterprises Inc., which publishes 46 daily newspapers, including its hometown Quad-Cities Times, said today that fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenues declined, but that it continued to use cash to pay down debt. Chairman and CEO Mary Junck said in a release that digital revenue grew nearly 26 percent in the 13 weeks ended Dec. 28, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. Subscription revenue increased 0.3 percent and the company expects full-year subscription revenue to increase 2.5 percent to 3 percent. Debt was reduced $20.3 million in the quarter and another $12.3 million since then. Earnings fell to 18 cents per share, down from 22 cents in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue was $176.2 million for the quarter, down 0.7 percent from a year ago.