American Media’s long nightmare may finally be over.
The publisher of Star and The National Enquirer yesterday released its quarterly earnings report for the period ending June 30, 2007 – which the company said brings its fiscal reporting requirements to the SEC up to date for the first time in 20 months.
In the report, the company said that its revenues for the period were up 5.6 percent to $121.8 million while its operating income was $26.2 million, compared to $4.6 million for the same period in 2006, representing a 470 percent swing.
The net loss for the period narrowed to $123,000, compared to $27.4 million a year ago.
Part of of the swing was due to the sudden shuttering of the company’s start-up publications including Celebrity Living, MPH and Shape en Espanol in April 2006. In the fourth quarter of 2007, the company also quietly shut down its Wal-Mart magazine, Looking Good Now.
The company also relocated the Enquirer back to Boca Raton, Fla., from New York.
The cost-cutting and downsizing appears to have succeeded.
“Last year was abysmal, so it’s difficult to compare but the trend lines look strong,” said one bondholder, who said there were no surprises in the filing.
Down the road AMI may have to go a little more into debt to keep bondholders happy. Earlier the company pledged to meet certain debt to cash flow requirements, but barring the sale of some assets, it appears likely to miss that mark.