Without elaborating on the reasons for the new timeframe, Bewkes said today Ripp was “making great progress” at the publishing unit and that he anticipated a Form 10 to be filed in the next few weeks, which is required to take a spinoff public.
Third-quarter results for the publishing unit, meanwhile, underscore continued pressures facing magazine publishing’s business model. Publishing revenue declined 2 percent to $818 million in the quarter, with declines in both of its mainstays, ad and subscription revenue.
Time Warner said consumer revenue declined 4 percent, as the company felt the brunt of lower newsstand revenues worldwide.
Digital revenue should continue to be a bright spot for publishing, but lower website revenues were cited as a reason for a 2 percent decline in ad revenue in the quarter. Further, Time Warner said the decrease would have been lower if not for People and Sports Illustrated having moved an issue from the fourth quarter into the third.
Unlike many publishing businesses, Time, Inc. continues to be solidly profitable. Depending on how the balance sheet is structured, it may prove to be an interesting contrarian play.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in any stock mentioned.
Related articles
- Time Can Wait: Magazine Spinoff Pushed Off Until 2014 (stockspinoffs.com)
- Time Inc. Spinoff Timing Delayed (adweek.com)
- Barron’s: Magazine Spinoff Good For Time Warner, But Stock Price Is Too High Right Now (stockspinoffs.com)
- Time Warner’s CEO isn’t worried about those HBO plus broadband deals (gigaom.com)
