Lee Enterprises reports first quarter; digital-only subscribers surpass 100,000 milestone

Davenport-based Lee Enterprises, Inc., a leading provider of high-quality, trusted, local news, information and a major platform for advertising in 49 markets, today reported first quarter fiscal 2020 financial results for the period ended December 29, 2019.

First quarter highlights:

• Total digital revenue was $37.2 million, representing 30.4% of operating revenue. Digital advertising revenue increased 5.1%, after adjusting for non-recurring political revenue in the prior year quarter, and represented 39.5% of total advertising revenue.

• Revenue at TownNews increased 17.8% from the prior year quarter.

• Due to timing of strategic pricing actions and print unit declines, subscription revenue was off trend, reflecting the challenging conditions in print. However, digital-only subscribers, which totaled 57,000 in the prior year quarter, increased 84.8% and now total 105,000.

• Total revenues were $122.3 million in the first quarter, compared to $136.2 million in the prior year quarter. On a same property basis revenues were $119.1 million in the first quarter, compared to $136.2 million in the prior year quarter.

• Revenue from the management agreement with BH Media Group totaled $4.0 million, a 53.0% increase from the prior year quarter, largely reflecting continued implementation of operational growth initiatives.

 Full report at Quad-City Times