By Reuters | Updated: May 07, 2015, 06.37 PM IST
Time Inc, the publisher of Time, People and Sports Illustrated magazines, reported a much smaller-than-expected quarterly net loss, helped by a rise in its digital advertising revenue and lower costs.
Digital advertising has been the lone bright spot for the largest U.S. magazine publisher, with print advertising revenue sliding as consumers increasingly shift to reading on smartphones and tablets.
Most publishers, including Time, have been cutting costs, slashing their workforce and beefing up their digital offerings.
Time said on Thursday that its revenue from digital advertising rose 1.4 percent to $73 million in the first quarter.
Production costs fell about 8.6 percent to $160 million, while selling, general and administrative costs declined 4.3 percent.
However, total advertising revenue, which makes up the bulk of its total revenue and is heavily dependent on circulation, fell 9.5 percent to $353 million.
Circulation revenue, which includes subscription and newsstand sales, fell about 7.4 percent to $250 million.
Time also said it had put up its UK executive offices for sale.
Time, which also publishes Fortune and Entertainment Weekly magazines, was spun off from Time Warner Inc last June.
The company's net loss narrowed to $9 million, or 8 cents per share in the quarter ended March 31 from $74 million, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, Time posted a loss of 6 cents per share.
Total revenue fell 8.7 percent to $680 million. Analysts on average had estimated a loss of 20 cents per share and revenue of $680.9 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
