The New York Times Company (NYT) Q4 2017 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY17 revenue rose 7.7% to $1.676B in a 53-week year, led by digital subscriptions; operating profit increased 10.6% to $112.4M.

• Paid subscriptions reached 3.6M across 208 countries and territories; digital-only subscriptions grew 41.8% YoY to 2.644M.

• Reported net income attributable to common stockholders fell to $4.3M from $29.1M, with one-time pension and tax charges weighing on results.

Financial highlights

• Revenue $1.676B, up 7.7% YoY; subscription revenue $1.008B, up 14.5%, and advertising revenue $558.5M, down 3.8%.

• Operating profit $112.4M, up 10.6%; adjusted operating profit $284.5M vs. $240.9M, up 18.1%.

• Net income attributable to common stockholders $4.3M vs. $29.1M; diluted EPS $0.03 vs. $0.19.

• Adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations $0.80 vs. $0.57; adjusted operating costs rose 5.8% to $1.391B.

• FY17 included $102.1M pre-tax pension settlement charges and $68.7M tax expense from tax-law changes; adjusted results exclude special items and other specified costs.

Outlook and guidance

• Digital revenue target remains $800M annually by 2020.

• Expected 2018 qualified-pension contributions to meet minimum funding requirements: approximately $8M.

• Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, plus operating cash flow and other sources, expected to cover financing needs over the next 12 months.

• Comparable quarterly cash dividends of $0.04 per share were expected to continue, subject to Board review of earnings, capital needs and financial condition.