Lee Enterprises, owner of the Quad City Times and 48 other daily newspapers, reported a $26.5 million loss for its second quarter ended March 25.
The 54 cents per share loss reflects the company's $38.7 million expense from its recently completed bankruptcy reorganization and debt refinancing.
The loss would have been substantially higher if not for a $14.5 million income tax benefit recorded during the quarter. For the same quarter a year ago Lee reported a loss of 3 cents per share ($1.47 million).
Lee was $965.5 million in debt as of March 25, down from $1.026 billion in debt at the end of the March last year.
Lee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to obtain approval of its refinancing plan. The restructured debt gives Lee additional time to pay down the debt, but came with higher interest rates and the added expenses from the bankruptcy filing and refinancing.
In its news release, Lee's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mary Junck said "revenue trends improved modestly in the March quarter," and pointed to growth of its digital revenue.
"We also rolled out a major upgrade of mobile applications, improving the delivery of news and advertising in all 52 of our daily newspaper markets," Junck said.
"And, our pay for digital content initiative is on track to have most enterprises operating paid sites by the end of this year, with 10 more launching this summer," she said.
Lee's newspaper online sites in Montana and Wyoming began charging fees for accessing content last year.
CLICK HERE to download the Lee second quarter financial report.
