Belo, Owner of the Dallas Morning News, Reports $4.6 Million Net Income in 3Q of 2010

A.H. Belo Corp. today reported net income of $4.6 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2010 compared to a net loss of $5.8 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2009, a company release said.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) was $14.2 million, an increase of $20 million compared to the third quarter of 2009. Third quarter 2010 EBITDA includes pension expense of $1.6 million; a $1.1 million bonus accrual; a $1.4 million gain on two real estate transactions in Dallas; a $1.2 million reversal of an accrual for workers’ compensation insurance; and $1.1 million of insurance proceeds.

When pension expense is added to EBITDA (“Adjusted EBITDA”) in both periods, the resulting Adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter of 2010 was $15.8 million, an increase of $21.6 million compared to the third quarter of 2009.

“The Board and Management Committee are very pleased with the progress reflected in A. H. Belo’s third quarter performance," chairman, president and chief executive officer Robert W. Decherd said in the release. "Our corporate and operating unit teams have worked intensely for the past two years to reach this relative stability in an industry environment that continues to change at a rapid pace.

"Third quarter total revenue decreased 6.1 percent compared to 2009 and was only 100 basis points below the company’s 2010 Financial Plan for the third quarter.

"Expense containment and cost reductions remain top priorities across the entire organization.

"As of Sept. 30, the company had approximately $81.3 million of cash and cash equivalents, no borrowings outstanding under its bank credit facility, and remained in compliance with bank covenants.

"The addition of $21.3 million of cash and cash equivalents during the third quarter further strengthens the company’s ability to maintain and enhance the quality of its local content and make decisions in the long-term interests of the company, its shareholders and its employees.”

More Newspaper Layoffs as Belo Cuts 200 From The Dallas Morning News

The A.H. Belo cuts came through today at the Dallas Morning News where 200 people were laid off. Belo had announced in January that it planned to eliminate 500 jobs throughout all its holdings.

The Dallas Morning News layoffs affected every department, according to John McKeon, president and general manager, in a Morning News report. That includes various niche products and associated companies, such as the Denton Record-Chronicle; Al Día, a Spanish-language publication; and a printing operation called DFW Printing Co.

Dallas-based Belo also owns The Providence Journal and The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif. As of the end of 2008, A.H. Belo had 2,950 full-time employees and 400 part-time employees, according to the the Morning News report that cited a recent regulatory filing.

Belo Starts Layoffs Today; 500 Expected to Go

A.H. Belo, the parent company of The Dallas Morning News and Providence Journal, said it will begin its layoffs today.

Belo had announced in January that it intends to release 500 employees throughout its company, which represents about 14 percent of its workforce.

Specific numbers for each of its properties have not been released, but the company has announced most of the layoffs will take place today and tomorrow.

"Our company continues to face unprecedented economic challenges during this prolonged recession, making this staff reduction a very difficult but necessary decision," said Jim Moroney, publisher and chief executive of The Dallas Morning News.

The cuts come after A.H. Belo said last week it will cut some workers' salaries and suspend pension contributions for the year. Full-time employees making more than $25,000 per year will see salary cuts of between 2.5 percent and 15 percent, depending on their base salary. The changes will go into effect around the beginning of May.

Belo's Providence Journal Lays Off 100 Employees

An additional 100 Providence Journal workers are to be laid off by March 6 by A.H. Belo, Sheila Lennon of the Journal writes today.

The Dallas company that bought the newspaper in 1996. The Journal reported the impending layoffs Jan. 31 (A.H. Belo, owner of the The Providence Journal, plans to cut 500 jobs) but today we learned how many of those lost jobs would be in Providence. (A.H. Belo's other newspapers are the Dallas Morning News, Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise and the Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle.)

In the newsroom we learned exactly which jobs would be cut from the Providence Newspaper Guild, the union that represents reporters, editors and advertising staffers, and slightly more than half of the jobs to be eliminated. Printed as always on bright yellow paper, the bulletin detailing the cuts was hand-delivered by Guild representatives this afternoon to each desk: 100 jobs to be cut at ProJo.

The Journal will cut all 26 part-time positions and eight full-time positions in the Advertising Department. The News Department will lose 18 full-time positions.

The remaining job cuts are to come from management, production and other non-Guild positions.

This time, no reporters were eliminated; photographers, artists, designers, visual techs, editors and editorial assistants bear the brunt of the News department cuts. On Oct. 10, 31 news staffers were laid off; 12 others had earlier taken voluntary buyouts.

Belo Gave Bonuses to Execs While Announcing 500 Job Cuts

A.H. Belo Corp. gave bonuses to its newspaper and corporate managers at the same time it announced a mass layoff of 500 employees last week, Robert Wilonsky reported today in the Dallas Observer.

On Friday, A.H. Belo Corporation announced that it would, yet again, lay off about 500 more workers at all of its properties, among them The Dallas Morning News and The Providence Journal. At the same time, Belo managers, in the newspaper group and in the corporate offices, were receiving bonuses promised to them at the beginning of 2008 if they hit "quantifiable financial targets," says A.H. Belo executive vice president Jim Moroney III today. Moroney tells Unfair Park the timing was indeed "unfortunate," which is why he has been meeting with unhappy News employees ever since -- to explain why the bonuses were given, and to insist that no further bonuses will be handed out for the foreseeable future.

After the jump is a Q&A conducted this afternoon with the publisher and chief executive officer of The Dallas Morning News, in which he addresses the bonuses, the profitability of Dallas's Only Daily and whether or not it will begin charging for some online content in the near future. This is "hand-to-hand combat," Moroney says in between meetings with employees. "I don't think there's an industry, except maybe grocery stores, being spared in this economy. But we were hit earlier and deeper."

A.H. Belo Plans to Lay Off 500

Facing hard times like every newspaper chain, Belo decided today to let 500 employees go in a cost-cutting move, writes Mark Fitzgerald of Editor & Publisher.

A.H. Belo Corp. will lay off approximately 500 employees at The Dallas Morning News and its three other dailies, CEO Robert Decherd told employees in a memo that said pay cuts and the newly popular industry practice of furloughs had been considered and rejected by management.

The staff reduction, amounting to nearly 14% of employees, is the second big round of job cuts in the past six months. Last summer, A.H. Belo reduced about 500 jobs nationwide with voluntary severance packages followed by layoffs.

"The revenue trends we continue to experience simply do not support or require the same number of people as we have previously employed," Decherd said. "This reduction in force will impact all of the operating companies and corporate, and will probably be in the range of 500 jobs. Specifics about the reduction in force plan will be communicated as soon as possible, but no later than mid-February."