Biz journal owner reports loss, but higher revenues

Minneapolis-based Dolan Media Co., the parent company of weekly business newspapers across the country, reported higher revenue for the third quarter but a loss due to the cost of some redeemable stock. Operating income increased.

The company, which owns the Long Island Business News, Mississippi Business Journal, the Colorado Springs Business Journal, the Idaho Business Review and the Daily Journal of Commerce in Portland, Ore., among others, reported that third quarter reveues were $38.3 million, an increase of 33.2 percent from $28.8 million in the same period last year.

This increase in revenues consisted of $5.8 million of increased revenues from organic growth within existing businesses; $3.2 million of revenues from a mortgage default processing services operations in Indiana, which it acquired in January 2007; and $500,000 in revenues from the Mississippi Business Journal, which it acquired in March.

Operating income for the third quarter was $8.3 million, or 21.7 percent of revenues, an increase of 17.9 percent from $7.0 million, which was 24.5 percent of revenues in the same prior-year period. The net loss for the quarter was $7.5 million, equal to the same quarter in 2006.

The company’s division that operates the business newspapers reported revenues of $21.0 million, an increase of 17.7 percent from $17.8 million for the same prior-year period.

The business newspaper division saw a 13.5 percent year-over-year increase in display and classified advertising revenues and a 40.6 percent year-over-year increase in public notice revenues. Circulation revenues declined to $3.2 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2007, compared to $3.4 million for three months a year earlier. The revenue increase is also partially attributed to the addition of the Mississippi Business Journal, which the company acquired from Venture Publications in March. Â

Dolan Media went public earlier this year and has seen its stock price increase by more than 50 percent.

Read the rest of the release here.