E.W. Scripps income up in 2Q, beats expectations

CINCINNATI

Television station and newspaper operator The E.W. Scripps Co. reported a jump in its second-quarter revenue and net income on Monday and said it expects its trends to improve through the second-half of the year.

The company, which is based in Cincinnati and also produces a news wire and other services, said it earned $99.5 million, or $1.56 per share, for the quarter. That's up sharply from $2.3 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier.

Adjusting for the sale of its licensing business, United Media Licensing, to Iconix Brand Group in June, the company earned 4 cents per share -- still well above the penny per share analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected on average.

Revenue grew 5 percent to $189 million. Analysts expected $179.9 million.

The company said its television revenue jumped and newspaper revenue fell 4 percent.

"Thanks to shared sacrifice and difficult decisions across the company, we're now in a strong financial position and devoting our creative energies to new opportunities arising from the relentless evolution of media," Scripps President and CEO Rich Boehne said.

Shares of Scripps rose 68 cents, about 8.8 percent, to $8.40 in early afternoon trading.