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Tribune
Updates Business Progress at Media Conference
CHICAGO,
June 23, 2004 -- Tribune
Company (NYSE:TRB) executives today will update investors
and analysts on the company's business progress this year
at the Mid-Year Media Review conference in New York City.
"We now expect consolidated revenue
growth of four percent for the year," Dennis FitzSimons,
Tribune's chairman, president and chief executive says
in his prepared remarks. "And
we're confident of achieving it because the overall economy
is solid, help wanted trends continue to be strong and
TV results will improve in the second half of the year."
FitzSimons says Tribune's stock
repurchase program is evidence of the company's confidence
in its financial performance and future growth potential.
"We've been aggressively repurchasing our stock. So far
this year, we've bought back about 12 million shares,
at a cost of nearly $600 million."
Tribune Company expects to generate operating cash flow
of about $1.7 billion this year. By year's end, outstanding
debt will be about $1.9 billion, giving the company a
debt-to-cash flow ratio of nearly 1-to-1. Capital expenditures
in 2004 will total about $220 million.
The company is seeing solid advertising
growth at its television stations. According to Patrick
Mullen, president of Tribune Television, "Our third
quarter pace is encouraging and the fourth quarter
should be even better."
Tribune Publishing president Jack
Fuller points to growth in help wanted advertising
at the company's newspapers. "Help
wanted advertising has been strong. Overall, Tribune's
total help wanted revenue is up 19 percent year to date,
buoyed by nine consecutive months of positive job creation
nationwide."
Cost saving initiatives implemented
across Tribune Publishing earlier this month have had
a positive effect, and as a consequence, Fuller says,
"We believe we will turn in a good bottom line performance
in the second half of this year, and will have a strong
start on expense control in 2005 and beyond."
The cost savings initiatives will result in a one-time
pretax charge of $10-$15 million which is expected to
be taken in the second quarter. Excluding this charge
and non-operating items, second quarter diluted earnings
per share is expected to be within the current range
of analysts' estimates. On the same basis, full year
diluted EPS is expected to increase year-over-year in
the low double digits.
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This press release
contains certain comments or forward-looking statements
that are based largely on the Company's current expectations
and are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties.
Such comments and statements should be understood in the
context of Tribune's publicly available reports filed with
the SEC, including the most current annual 10-K report
and quarterly 10-Q report, which contain a discussion of
various factors that may affect the company's business.
These factors could cause actual future performance to
differ materially from current expectations.
Tribune Company
is not responsible for updating the information contained
in this press release beyond the published date, or for
changes made to this document by wire services or Internet
service providers.
TRIBUNE (NYSE: TRB) is one of the country’s
premier media companies, operating businesses in broadcasting
and publishing. It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households
and is the only media organization with television stations,
newspapers and websites in the nation’s top three markets.
In publishing, Tribune operates 14 leading daily newspapers
including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday
and Spanish-language Hoy, plus a wide range of targeted publications.
The company’s broadcasting group operates 26 television
stations; Superstation WGN on national cable; WGN-AM in Chicago;
and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and information
websites complement Tribune’s print and broadcast properties
and extend the company’s nationwide audience. |
