The company, which publishes the New York Times and the Boston Globe, saw earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fall by 42.7% in the fourth quarter of 2001 to £129m, down from £226m in the same period of 2000, a record year for the group.
However, over the full year, the company reported that ebitda was up by 2.7% to £701m. The results were in line with the company's predictions in December 2001.
The newspaper division was hard hit, with revenues down 15.8% to £516m in the fourth quarter, despite an increase in circulation revenues and a decrease in the price of newsprint.
The digital division fared better after cutting more than 100 jobs in 2001 -- it posted its second consecutive operating profit, for the fourth quarter of the year. The operating profit for New York Times Digital stood at £990,000 for the quarter, compared with a loss of £8.5m in the same period last year.
While AOL Time Warner forecast a bleak outlook for 2002 when it posted its results today, the New York Times Company was more upbeat.
Russell Lewis, president and CEO, said: "If, as we expect, there is a second-half recovery, we believe our full-year earnings per share will grow in the mid single-digit to low double-digit range."
He also said that during 2001, total costs went down by 5.3%, partly through reduced staff levels.
Shares in the New York Times Company leapt by 20 cents in opening trading, before settling back to $42.17, up 0.05% on yesterday's close.
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