The New York Times Co. said Thursday that it posted a loss for the third quarter due to hefty charges related to its sale of the Boston Globe.
Excluding losses related to the Globe transaction, Times Co.’s adjusted loss was smaller than Wall Street expected, though its revenue fell short of predictions.
Times Co.’s loss totaled $24.2 million, or 16 cents per share. That compared with a profit of $2.7 million, or 2 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2012.
Excluding one-time items and $34.3 million in impairment charges related to the company’s $70 million sale of the New England Media Group, Times Co. posted an adjusted loss from continuing operations of 1 cent per share. A year ago, the company posted an adjusted loss of 2 cents per share.
The New England Media Group sale included The Globe, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, websites and other properties.
Revenue rose 2 percent to $361.7 million from $355.3 million.
Analysts, on average, expected a loss of 3 cents per share on $404 million in revenue, according to FactSet.
Circulation revenue rose 5 percent to $204.2 million as the company’s ranks of digital subscribers rose 28 percent from a year ago to about 727,000 as of the end of the recent quarter. Revenue from digital-only subscription packages, e-readers and replica editions jumped 29 percent to $37.7 million.
Times Co. also said higher print copy prices offset a drop in the number of print copies sold.
Meanwhile, advertising revenue dropped 2 percent to $138 million.
For the current quarter, the company said it expects to post an increase in circulation revenue in the “low single digits,” while advertising revenue is expected to fall by a “low single digit” percentage.
Times Co. shares rose 4 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $13.79 in afternoon trading.