THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408110535
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Fans, players and now Tribune Co. stockholders may suffer from the major league baseball strike.
The company, owner of the National League's Chicago Cubs, said the players' strike, scheduled to begin Friday, may hurt financial results at its baseball, television and radio operations. The Cubs not only generate revenue through ticket sales and concessions, but also provide programming for Tribune's television and radio stations.
Tribune said it couldn't quantify the cost of the strike because it didn't know how long the work stoppage would last. Company spokesman Joseph Hays said any impact is likely to be minor. Baseball revenue is ``a relatively small part of our annual operating profit,'' he said. The company doesn't disclose the exact amount of earnings that the team contributes to the bottom line.
Analysts have estimated that the strike would reduce earnings by several cents to 10 cents a share, based on the company's 67.37 million shares outstanding, Hays said. According to an Aug. 5 survey of 12 analysts by IBES Inc., the Tribune is likely to have third-quarter earnings of 63 cents a share.
``There are not that many games left in the season,'' said Michael Kupinski, a media and entertainment analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., a regional brokerage based in St. Louis. ``I think most of the (baseball) revenue has already been achieved.''
The company reported operating profits of $122.7 million for the second quarter ended June 26, up from $107 million during the same period last year. About $50 million of that profit came from Tribune's broadcasting and entertainment operations, a segment that includes the baseball team's financial results. Total revenue during the second quarter increased to $573.7 million from $517.4 million during the same period last year.
In addition to the Chicago Cubs, Tribune owns eight television stations, including stations in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
The company's WGN Channel 9 in Chicago is carried nationally over cable television systems. Tribune publishes the Chicago Tribune and five other daily newspapers, including the Daily Press in Newport News, which makes it the seventh-largest newspaper publisher in the country. by CNB