New York Times shares hit record high as it adds 1m digital subscribers
Shares in the New York Times jumped to a 15-year high today after the company said it gained more than 1m digital subscribers in 2019.
The newspaper group posted operating profit of $78m (£60m) in the fourth quarter, up from $74.7m in the same period last year. Revenue also ticked up 1.1 per cent over the quarter to hit $508.4m.
The media firm, which has regularly been described as “failing” by US President Donald Trump, hailed a bumper period for its online offering, adding more than 1m digital-only subscriptions over the year — its largest increase ever. It now boasts roughly 5.25m subscriptions across its print and digital products.
The increase helped to drive a 16 per cent rise in subscription revenues to $122.1m in the fourth quarter.
However, the Times fell victim to a wider squeeze in the advertising market that has taken its toll on publishers.
Fourth-quarter digital advertising revenue dropped 10.8 per cent to $92.2m, while print advertising was down 10.5 per cent.
The company blamed the decline in digital ad revenue on strong comparisons in the previous year, offset by growth in podcasts.
Other revenue was up 30 per cent to $14.3m, largely due to the success of its TV series The Weekly — a spin-off of the newspaper’s wildly popular podcast.
“2019 was a record-setting year for the New York Times’ digital subscription business, the best since the company launched digital subscriptions almost nine years ago,” said Mark Thompson, president and chief executive officer.
“That success is a testament to the extraordinary work of Times journalists around the world and also to the radically different way that we’re running digital operations at the company, with cross-disciplinary teams who enjoy significant autonomy and access to the machine learning, engineering and testing capabilities they need to move our business forward.”
The company said it expected total subscription revenue to rise in the mid-single digits in the first quarter, with digital subscriptions continuing to offset a decline in advertising dollars.
The New York Times has previously outlined plans to hit 10m subscribers by 2025.
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