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It was an ugly day for the New York Times Co.
Shares of the newspaper publisher finished down $2.38, or nearly 22 percent, to $8.31 — the biggest one-day drop in nearly three decades, according to Bloomberg data.
The Times reported a worse-than-expected drop in ad sales for the third quarter, dragging down overall results.
The dismal report added to the pressure on incoming CEO Mark Thompson, the former BBC boss under scrutiny for his handling of a sexual abuse scandal that has engulfed the UK public broadcaster.
Times Chairman and Publisher Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger Jr. expressed support yesterday for the BBC’s former director general and editor-in-chief.
In a call with analysts, Sulzberger said he was “satisfied” that Thompson “played no role” in killing a BBC TV news show on alleged sexual abuse by the late BBC talk show host Jimmy Savile.
Thompson has insisted he knew nothing of the allegations and wasn’t involved in a decision to drop a segment on the BBC’s “Newsnight” shortly after Savile’s death.
Analysts seemed more concerned with the Times’ ad slump. Advertising revenue fell 8.9 percent, including a 10.9 percent tumble in print and a 2.2 percent drop in digital ads.
The Times warned advertising will continue to be tough this quarter, which typically gets a boost from the holiday shopping season.
Overall revenue fell less than 1 percent, to $449 million — missing analysts’ estimate of $479 million. Operating profit fell 60 percent, to $8.5 million.
The only bright spot was digital circulation revenue, which helped boost circulation revenue 7.4 percent, to $235 million.
The number of paying digital subscribers to the Times and The International Herald Tribune hit 566,000, up 11 percent from the second quarter.