This summary is based on the third quarter fiscal 2007 earnings call conducted by New York Times Company (NYT: chart) on October 23, 2007.

President, Chief Executive Officer, Director: Janet L. Robinson
Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President: James M. Follo
President and General Manager - The Times: Scott H. Heekin-Canedy
Senior Vice President - Digital Operations: Martin A. Nisenholtz
Vice President, Corporate Communications: Catherine J. Mathis

Key Investors Issues

- The earnings per share increased from 6 cents in the prior year to 10 cents.
- The revenue increased to $754.4 million from $739.6 million in last year.
- The firm expects to decrease its cost base by roughly $230 million in 2008 and 2009.

Third Quarter Fiscal 2007 Financial Highlights

The New York Times reported earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations of 10 cents compared with 6 cents in the third quarter last year.

Excluding the special items, EPS from continuing operations was 15 cents compared with 9 cents in the third quarter last year. Operating profit increased 57.1% to $28.1 million from $17.9 million in the third quarter of 2006 while operating profit excluding depreciation and amortization increased 46.4% to $79.9 million from $54.6 million in the third quarter of 2006.

Included in the results from continuing operations are the following special items:
- Accelerated depreciation expense of $11.7 million ($6.7 million after tax, or 5 cents per share) in the third quarter of 2007 for assets at the company''s Edison, New Jersey, printing plant, which is in the process of being closed.
- A loss of $7.8 million ($4.3 million after tax or 3 cents per share) in the third quarter of 2006 from the sale of the company''s 50% investment in the Discovery Times Channel (DTC), a digital cable channel.

Total revenues increased 2% to $754.4 million from $739.6 million.

Advertising revenues decreased 0.1%; circulation revenues increased 3.9%; and other revenues rose 11.5%.

The advertising revenues at the news media group decreased 1.4%.

Real estate advertising, the largest classified category, continued to be affected by the nationwide slowdown in the housing market. Excluding the real estate category, ad revenues increased 1.4%.

Total circulation revenues were up in the quarter, mainly because of the higher prices for the New York Times. The Times had price increases in the fourth quarter of last year and the third quarter this year. The resulting copy losses were less than anticipated. Overall, the Times and other newspapers are executing a circulation strategy that rebalances the copy mix away from less profitable other paid circulation to highly profitable individually paid. As the company executes this shift, it does expect to see copy declines, but by pursuing this strategy, the firm has realized and will continue to realize significant benefits to its expense performance. In September, the firm added another national print site for the Times in Salt Lake City, and it is seeing increased copy sales in that market. Two more sites are scheduled for 2008. The company expects each of these new sites will reduce distribution and other costs and increase national circulation.

Other revenues at the news media group rose 10.8%, primarily as the result of a full quarter of rental income from space it leases out in its new headquarters. In the fourth quarter, the New England Media Group began its multi-year contract with Gatehouse Media to print two of its daily papers in the Boston market. The group already prints several newspapers, including Metro Boston, and the New York Daily News.

The firm continued to tightly manage its expenses in the third quarter.

Operating costs, excluding depreciation and amortization, declined 1.5%, primarily because of lower newsprint expense. This is partially offset by higher professional fees, primarily due to the costs associated with the company’s new headquarters and expense reduction initiatives.

Newsprint expense decreased 22.2%, with 13.4% of the decline resulting from lower newsprint prices and 8.8% resulting from decreased consumption. During the third quarter, the Times reduced its web width and the Globe expects to do so this quarter, further decreasing the newsprint consumption.

Buy-outs this past quarter were below those of a year ago.

In the fourth quarter, however, the firm expects buy-outs to be approximately $14 million to $16 million, compared to $8.5 million in the same quarter last year. This range can vary significantly based upon seniority and the timing of implementation.

Depreciation and amortization in the quarter totaled $51.8 million versus $36.7 million in the same period last year.