Dolan Media reports first-quarter profit

Dolan Media, the Minneapolis-based company that owns business newspapers, reported a first-quarter profit of $4 million after posting a loss in the same quarter a year ago, according to a story by Ben Mook, an assistant business editor at the Daily Record, one of its newspapers.

Mook wrote, “Minneapolis-based Dolan, parent company of The Daily Record, said Tuesday that total revenue for the first quarter was $41.5 million, up 16.3 percent from the $35.7 million recorded in the first quarter of 2007.

“As a result, net income for the first quarter of 2008 was $4 million, or 16 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $27.8 million, or $2.98 per diluted share, for the corresponding period in 2007. Much of this was attributed to public notice advertising revenue, which was up 40.6 percent year-over-year.

“Dolan Media publishes 60 print publications consisting mainly of business and legal newspapers in 20 markets, including Baltimore, Boston and New Orleans. Dolan publications saw a 17 percent increase in revenue for the fourth quarter.

“While public notice revenue increased, ad revenue did not see a similar spike. Thanks to the acquisition of the Mississippi Business Journal in March 2007, display ad revenues increased 8 percent.”

Read more here.