Earnings: Journal Register Q4 Revs Slide 12.5 Percent; Online Up 29.9 Percent; No Yahoo Changes Seen

New Haven Register publisher Journal Register (NYSE: JRC) announced Q4 revenues of $115.4 million, a 12.5 percent decline from the previous year’s $131.9 million. The company suffered a big, $148.4 million quarterly loss on asset writedowns. Excluding the charges, net income came to $3.9 million ($.10 per share), down 56 percent from 8.9 million. Blame the usual culprits for the weakness: classified revenue fell 12.4 percent, retail dropped 6.1 percent and national slid 8.4 percent. Online revenue grew 29.9 percent in the quarter, though it still stands at just $6 million, or 5 percent of the company’s total. The company said it spent $16.1 million for the year investing in its digital strategy. On the call, the company cited the Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) HotJobs agreement as a key driver of its online growth. Management was asked whether a change in control at Yahoo would have any effect on the consortium. The answer: There is no reason to think that anything will change, but the company (by coincidence) has a meeting with Yahoo this week, so more may be revealed then.

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