Payout Represents Reduction from Prior LevelNEW YORK, Nov 20, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The New York Times Company's Board of Directors today declared a
quarterly dividend of $.06 per share on the Company's Class A and Class
B common stock, down from $.23 per share in the third quarter of 2008.
The dividend is payable on December 15, 2008, to shareholders of record
on December 1, 2008.
"This was a difficult but necessary decision that will provide us with
greater financial flexibility in these uncertain economic times," said
Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman of the Company. "Most industries are
feeling the need to conserve cash and ours is as well, particularly
given the secular challenges we face. Throughout our history, we have
successfully weathered difficult periods by maintaining our brand
promise of providing high-quality journalism. In order to continue to do
so, we have taken decisive steps to reduce capital spending, lower
operating costs and re-evaluate our assets. We expect that this steep
cut in the dividend, coupled with our other actions, will help us
decrease debt and improve the liquidity of the Company, a prudent
measure in this operating environment."
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those predicted by such forward-looking
statements. These risks and uncertainties include national and local
conditions, as well as competition, that could influence the levels
(rate and volume) of retail, national and classified advertising and
circulation generated by our various markets and material increases in
newsprint prices. They also include other risks detailed from time to
time in the Company's publicly filed documents, including the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2007 and
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 28, 2008.
The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with
2007 revenues of $3.2 billion, includes The New York Times, the
International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other daily
newspapers, WQXR-FM and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com,
Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance
society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news,
information and entertainment.
This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com
SOURCE: The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company
Catherine J. Mathis, 212-556-1981
mathis@nytimes.com
or
Paula Schwartz, 212-556-5224
paula.schwartz@nytimes.com
