Kevin Mowbray

Lee Enterprises, Inc. – parent company of the Quad City Times and Dispatch/Argus newspapers – slashed compensation costs by $12 million in the third quarter, but still lost $2 million during the three-month period ended June 29.

The company narrowed its third quarter red ink from a year ago, a loss of 31 cents per share ($2 million) compared to a loss of 73 cents per share ($4.4 million) for the same period a year ago.

Lee Enterprises, Inc. maintains its transition from a print to digital revenue platform is succeeding, but the Davenport-based media company's overall revenues and earnings continue to slide.

The company reported it lost $1.69 per share ($10 million) for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 29, compared to a loss of 32 cents per share ($1.98 million) for the same quarter a year ago.

For the full year, the company reported it lost $25.8 million ($4.35 per share) compared to a loss of $5.3 million (90 cents per share) for fiscal 2023.

Lee Enterprises – owner of the Quad City Times, Dispatch/Argus and 70+ other news publications and web sites – reported first quarter earnings of $1.2 million, a 32 percent decrease from the same period a year ago.

Lee executives again boasted of its growth in digital subscriptions (up 58 percent from the first quarter of 2022), but overall subscription revenue fell 10.5 percent compared with the same period last year.

"Our first quarter results demonstrate our confidence in Lee's digital transformation," Kevin Mowbray, Lee's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated in its earnings news release issued Feb. 1. "We are on a clear path to becoming sustainable solely from the revenue and cash flow from our digital products."

While the company has been pushing aggressively to move print subscribers to digital subscribers, the overall impact has been a steady decrease in total operating revenues.

Lee Enterprises, Inc. – owner of the Quad City Times, Dispatch/Argus and news operations in 76 other markets – earned $5.3 million during the fourth quarter ended Sept. 26.

The positive earnings announcement Thursday (12/9) came a day after the Davenport-based company's board of directors unanimously rejected the $24-per-share buyout offer made by Alden Global Capital last month.

While the Lee earnings news release held up fourth quarter operating revenues ($194 million) and fiscal year operating revenues ($794.6 million) as signs the company's strategic plan was working, on a pro forma basis, full year operating revenues were down 3 percent compared to 2020.