Pulitzer Inc. Reports Eighth-Period Revenue for Four Weeks Ended
August 29, 2004 ST. LOUIS, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Pulitzer Inc. (NYSE:PTZ) today announced that revenue increased 5.6
percent for both the four-week accounting period ended August 29,
2004 and the thirty- five-week year-to-date period when compared to
the respective 2003 periods. August 2004 advertising revenue in St.
Louis and at the 12 Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. ("PNI") markets
increased 6.7 percent, with increases of 4.6 percent at the St.
Louis operations and 11.9 percent at PNI. On a comparable basis,
excluding the results of PNI acquisitions absent in the comparable
periods of 2003 and 2004, total revenue increased 4.8 percent for
the four-week period ended August 29, 2004 and increased 4.7
percent for the thirty-five-week year-to-date period. Total
comparable advertising revenue increased 5.8 percent for the
four-week period ended August 29, 2004 and increased 5.7 percent
for the thirty-five-week year-to-date period. Eighth period 2004
comparable advertising revenue increased 4.6 percent at the St.
Louis operations and 8.8 percent at PNI. Comparable advertising
revenue increased 4.5 percent at the St. Louis operations and 8.9
percent at PNI for the thirty-five-week year-to-date period. The
principal components of the eighth-period comparable advertising
revenue results for St. Louis and PNI were: -- Comparable retail
advertising revenue, including preprints, increased 3.9 percent.
Comparable retail ROP revenue increased 3.1 percent, principally
due to gains in the specialty stores, grocery, home improvement,
and electronic segments, as well as gains in local territory
revenue, which increased 11.2 percent in St. Louis. These gains
were partially offset by weakness in the department store,
entertainment, and furniture categories. Comparable retail ROP
revenue increased 0.9 percent in St. Louis and increased 7.3
percent at PNI. Comparable retail preprint revenue increased 9.3
percent in St. Louis and decreased 2.8 percent at PNI. --
Comparable eighth-period national advertising revenue, including
preprints, decreased 8.2 percent versus 2003, principally due to
weakness in the telecommunications category. Comparable national
preprint revenue increased 38.2 percent for the period and
comparable national ROP revenue decreased 17.0 percent. Comparable
national advertising revenue, including preprints, decreased 9.6
percent in St. Louis and increased 20.0 percent at PNI. --
Comparable eighth-period classified revenue increased 11.6 percent
versus 2003. Comparable Classified Advertising Revenue Percentage
Change 2004 Versus 2003 Total Pulitzer, including Tucson Tucson
Total Newspaper Newspaper PERIOD 8 St. Louis PNI Pulitzer Agency
Agency Help Wanted 15.8% 39.5% 21.7% 29.1% 22.6% Automotive (2.7%)
(7.5%) (3.8%) 9.1% (2.4%) Real Estate 9.8% 12.6% 10.7% 2.6% 10.1%
Total Classified Revenue 9.9% 16.0% 11.6% 14.0% 11.8% Comparable
Classified Advertising Revenue Percentage Change 2004 Versus 2003
Total Pulitzer, including Tucson Tucson Total Newspaper Newspaper
Year-to-date St. Louis PNI Pulitzer Agency Agency Help Wanted 10.3%
33.4% 15.4% 35.4% 17.8% Automotive 7.1% 2.9% 6.1% 6.8% 6.2% Real
Estate 8.3% 17.3% 10.9% (3.6%) 9.6% Total Classified Revenue 8.2%
16.1% 10.2% 13.4% 10.6% August 2004 revenue associated with the
Company's 50 percent interest in the Tucson Newspaper Agency
("TNI") increased 6.7 percent and total advertising revenue
increased 7.9 percent. TNI retail revenue, including preprints,
increased 2.2 percent with a 2.0 percent decrease in retail ROP
offset by a 14.9 percent increase in retail preprint revenue. Local
territory revenues increased 17.9 percent for the period. TNI
national revenue, including preprints, increased 41.5 percent.
August classified revenue increased 14.0 percent. Pulitzer Inc.,
through various subsidiaries and affiliated entities, is engaged in
newspaper publishing and related new media activities. The
Company's newspaper operations include two major metropolitan
dailies, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Arizona Daily Star in
Tucson, Ariz., and, through its Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. ("PNI")
subsidiary, 12 other dailies and more than 65 weekly newspapers,
shoppers and niche publications. The PNI dailies are The
Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.; The Daily Herald, Provo, Utah; the
Santa Maria Times, Santa Maria, Calif.; The Napa Valley Register,
Napa, Calif.; The World, Coos Bay, Ore.; The Sentinel, Hanford,
Calif.; the Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Ariz.; The Daily
Chronicle, DeKalb, Ill.; The Garden Island, Lihue, Hawaii; the
Daily Journal, Park Hills, Mo.; The Lompoc Record, Lompoc, Calif.;
and The Daily News, Rhinelander, Wisc. The Company's newspaper
operations also include the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis,
a group of 38 weekly papers and various niche publications. The
Company's new media and interactive initiatives include
STLtoday.com in St. Louis, azstarnet.com in Tucson, and Web sites
for all of its other dailies. Pulitzer Inc. is the successor to the
company originally founded by Joseph Pulitzer in St. Louis in 1878.
For further information, visit our Web site at
http://www.pulitzerinc.com/. NOTES: Statements in this press
release concerning the Company's business outlook or future
economic performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses
or other financial items, together with other statements that are
not historical facts, are "forward-looking statements" as that term
is defined under the Federal Securities Laws. Forward-looking
statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors
which could cause actual results to differ materially from those
stated in such statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other
factors include, but are not limited to, industry cyclicality, the
seasonal nature of the business, changes in pricing or other
actions by competitors or suppliers (including newsprint), outcome
of labor negotiations, capital or similar requirements, and general
economic conditions, any of which may impact advertising and
circulation revenues and various types of expenses, as well as
other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes that the
expectations reflected in "forward-looking statements" are
reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity,
performance or achievements. Accordingly, investors are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on any such "forward-looking
statements," and the Company disclaims any obligation to update the
information contained herein or to publicly announce the result of
any revisions to such "forward- looking statements" to reflect
future events or developments. PULITZER INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
PERIOD REVENUE AND STATISTICAL REPORT (Revenue in
thousands--Unaudited) Four Four 35 35 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended
Ended Ended Ended Aug. 29, Aug. 31, Aug. 29, Aug. 31, 2004 2003
Change 2004 2003 Change (Note 3) (Note 3) Consolidated Operating
Revenue (Note 1): Advertising: Retail $ 9,268 $ 8,894 4.2% $ 79,031
$ 75,700 4.4% National 1,547 1,863 (17.0%) 16,688 18,366 (9.1%)
Classified 11,219 9,958 12.7% 92,615 83,051 11.5% Total 22,034
20,715 6.4% 188,334 177,117 6.3% Preprints 5,273 4,866 8.4% 42,588
39,354 8.2% Total Advertising 27,307 25,581 6.7% 230,922 216,471
6.7% Circulation 6,192 6,154 0.6% 54,880 54,181 1.3% Other 527 492
7.1% 4,760 4,628 2.9% Total $34,026 $32,227 5.6% $290,562 $275,280
5.6% Operating Revenue of Consolidated Subsidiaries: St. Louis
Operations (Note 2): Advertising $19,024 $18,181 4.6% $163,580
$156,604 4.5% Circulation 4,588 4,536 1.1% 40,938 40,177 1.9% Other
139 123 13.0% 1,331 1,069 24.5% Total $23,751 $22,840 4.0% $205,849
$197,850 4.0% Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. Advertising $ 8,283 $ 7,400
11.9% $ 67,342 $ 59,867 12.5% Circulation 1,604 1,618 (0.9%) 13,942
14,004 (0.4%) Other 388 369 5.1% 3,429 3,559 (3.7%) Total $10,275 $
9,387 9.5% $ 84,713 $ 77,430 9.4% Operating Revenue of
Unconsolidated Newspaper Joint Venture: Pulitzer's 50% share of
Tucson Newspaper Agency: Advertising $ 3,248 $ 3,009 7.9% $ 28,481
$ 27,417 3.9% Circulation 822 831 (1.1%) 7,651 7,730 (1.0%) Other
41 13 215.4% 304 313 (2.9%) Total $ 4,111 $ 3,853 6.7% $ 36,436 $
35,460 2.8% Note 1 Year-to-year comparisons are affected by
acquisitions of weekly newspapers within the last 12 months that
complement the Company's newspapers in several markets. On a
comparable basis, excluding the impact of the acquisitions for
comparable ownership periods in each year, advertising and total
revenues would have increased as follows: Four Weeks 35 Weeks
Comparable Change Comparable Change Total Total Pulitzer PNI
Pulitzer PNI Advertising Revenue 5.8% 8.8% 5.7% 8.9% Total Revenue
4.8% 6.8% 4.7% 6.3% Note 2 Includes revenues of the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, St. Louis
e-media operations, and STL Distribution Services. Note 3 Certain
reclassifications have been made to the 2003 financial statements
and statistical data to conform with the presentation made in 2004.
PULITZER INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES PERIOD REVENUE AND STATISTICAL
REPORT SELECTED STATISTICAL INFORMATION Four Four 35 35 Weeks Weeks
Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Aug. 29, Aug. 31, Aug. 29, Aug.
31, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 Change (Note 3) (Note 3) Advertising
Linage (in thousands of inches) ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH:
Advertising Inches Full run (all zones) Retail 51.1 60.5 (15.5%)
482.7 482.5 (0.0%) National 10.6 13.5 (21.5%) 111.7 126.4 (11.6%)
Classified 77.5 81.2 (4.6%) 664.1 687.3 (3.4%) Total 139.2 155.2
(10.3%) 1,258.5 1,296.2 (2.9%) Part run (Retail/ Classified) 34.6
33.2 4.2% 338.3 318.2 6.3% Total Inches 173.8 188.4 (7.7%) 1,596.8
1,614.4 (1.1%) TUCSON NEWSPAPER AGENCY: Star/Citizen advertising
inches Full run (all zones) Retail 100.2 103.6 (3.3%) 947.3 986.9
(4.0%) National 3.6 5.0 (27.4%) 47.3 59.6 (20.6%) Classified 126.5
120.1 5.3% 1,124.8 1,048.5 7.3% Total 230.3 228.7 0.7% 2,119.4
2,095.0 1.2% Part run (Retail/ Classified) (Note 3) 1.7 2.3 (23.3%)
13.9 20.3 (31.3%) Total Inches 232.0 230.9 0.5% 2,133.3 2,115.3
0.9% Circulation (Note 4): Year-to-Date Period Average Average 2004
2003 Change 2004 2003 Change ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Daily 285,074
279,408 2.0% 282,487 285,771 (1.1%) Sunday 447,098 469,061 (4.7%)
451,956 464,032 (2.6%) COMBINED PULITZER NEWSPAPERS, INC.: Daily
180,990 185,785 (2.6%) 189,603 190,257 (0.3%) Sunday 193,006
189,630 1.8% 188,724 190,155 (0.8%) TUCSON NEWSPAPER AGENCY: Star
Daily 96,892 95,855 1.1% 104,603 103,321 1.2% Citizen Daily 30,212
31,356 (3.6%) 31,144 33,920 (8.2%) Combined Daily 127,104 127,211
(0.1%) 135,747 137,241 (1.1%) Star Sunday 159,651 161,534 (1.2%)
168,506 170,588 (1.2%) Online Page Views (in thousands) Four Four
35 35 Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Ended Ended Ended Ended Aug. 29, Aug.
31, Aug. 29, Aug. 31, 2004 2003 Change 2004 2003 (Note 3) (Note 3)
Change St. Louis 31,750 19,671 61.4% 254,026 159,280 59.5% Combined
PNI Web sites 9,756 7,549 29.2% 71,648 58,548 22.4% Combined Tucson
Web sites 7,004 5,603 25.0% 52,194 52,665 (0.9%) Totals 48,510
32,823 47.8% 377,868 270,493 39.7% Note 4 Year-to-date circulation
levels represent averages (unaudited) for the current ABC annual
audit periods ending September 30 and December 31 for the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch and Tucson Newspaper Agency, respectively. Year-to-
date PNI amounts represent combined averages (unaudited) for the
annual periods ending December 31. CONTACT: James V. Maloney,
Director of Shareholder Relations, of Pulitzer Inc., 314-340-8402
DATASOURCE: Pulitzer Inc. CONTACT: James V. Maloney, Director of
Shareholder Relations, Pulitzer Inc. +1-314-340-8402 Web site:
http://www.pulitzerinc.com/
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