The US publishing group last month said that earnings of 16 to 20 cents a share were likely (see
Dow Jones Is Latest Publisher To Issue Profits Warning), well below the forecasts of 56 cents per share. At the end of last week the group said that earnings were actually 17 cents per share on a first-quarter profit of $14.7 million. The poor performance comes mainly from a 24% drop in print advertising revenues.
As a result of the advertising downturn, Dow Jones has announced the axing of 202 jobs, instigated in an attempt to cut back on costs.
The news from Dow Jones was followed swiftly by an announcement that the New York Times publishing group, which has also recently issued a profit warning (see International), is itself cutting jobs in order to reduce costs. The slowdown in ad revenue was once again blamed for the unspecified number of job losses.
