Lee Enterprises, Inc. – owner of the QC Times, the Dispatch-Argus and some 70 other newspapers and online new sites nationally – lost $37.5 million during its 2025 fiscal year ended Sept. 29.
For the fourth quarter, the media company headquartered in Davenport lost $6.4 million.
Despite the underwater earnings, Lee President and CEO Kevin Mowbray pronounced in the earnings news release Nov. 26 that the company "was pleased with our fourth quarter results as we continue to outperform the industry.
"Digital subscription revenue increased 16 percent on a same-store basis, marking five consecutive years of industry-leading performance," Mowbray stated. "This consistent strength reflects the effectiveness of our Three Pillar Digital Growth Strategy and the exceptional execution of our team."
Lee's operating revenue totaled $562 million, down 8 percent from the $611 million in the previous 12-month period.
Operating expenses for fiscal 2025 totaled $571 million, a decrease of 7 percent from the $611 million a year earlier.
This year's operating expenses included $4 million in costs from a cyber attack that disrupted the company computer systems and allowed unauthorized access to certain files.
Also weighing down the company's profitability is its large long-term debt. For the fiscal year, the company paid $40.5 million in interest.
Company debt actually increased to $455 million in 2025 because of the cyber security incident. BH Finance LLC waived interest expense payments and BH Media waived lease payments due March 1, April 1 and May 1. The waivers increased the outstanding debt by $11.3 million.
The debt has a fixed annual interest rate of 9 percent. BH Finance and BH Media are subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway.
In a separate announcement, Lee reported the resignation of its Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Tim Millage, effective Feb. 28.
He will be paid as a consultant to the company through May 31 and receive a severance payment equal to 26 weeks of his annual salary. His total compensation in 2025 was listed as $612,442, which included salary, stock, stock options and retirement contributions.
Millage’s resignation, according to the company, was "due to personal reasons and not the result of any disagreement with the company or its operations, policies or practices."
And, in the midst of the year-end financial reporting and Millage's departure, the company announced a special shareholder meeting now scheduled for Dec. 19.
The meeting will be held virtually and is to consider issuing of an equity rights offering intended to raise $50 million.
According to the SEC filing, "the company believes it has limited capacity to issue shares of Common Stock and to offer other attractive forms of capital stock, such as the Non-Voting Common Stock and Preferred Stock, under its current share authorization for its corporate needs. . ."
Net proceeds from the proposed rights offering "will be used for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures and working capital, as well as other activities necessary for our operations, such as investments in technology with respect to advertising strategies, audience outreach, our internal operations, and digital products," according to the SEC filing.
If the company is able to raise the full amount of the rights offering, the SEC filing states Lee has an agreement in-principle with BH Finance to lower the annual interest rate from 9 percent to 5 percent for five years.
Such an arrangement would lower interest expenses by approximately $18 million annually, and up to $90 million over the five-year period, according to the rights offering filing.
CLICK HERE to download the company earnings news release.
CLICK HERE to download the company's "rights offering" filing.
