Tronc, Inc., the company formerly known as Tribune, reported second-quarter revenues of $405 million on Wednesday, a 1.8 percent drop from the previous year — but it would have been an even steeper 5.9 percent drop were it not for the 2015 acquisition of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Ad revenue was also down by 4.4 percent.
“We have a strategic plan in place to transform tronc by combining our platform of premium brands with proprietary technology to accelerate digital growth and create value for our shareholders,” CEO Justin Dearborn said. “Our overall strategy is providing results earlier than forecasted, which gives us the confidence to raise our revenue and Adjusted EBITDA guidance for the 2016 full year.”
The second quarter saw Tribune Publishing transform into tronc after the company rebranded amid a takeover attempt by newspaper rival Gannett. Earnings per share on a fully diluted basis came in at $0.12, which included EVSP charge and restructuring and transaction costs. Before the impact of these charges, Adjusted Diluted earnings per share increased to $0.35 for the quarter.
“The second quarter was another strong performance in growing our bottom-line and expanding our margins,” said CFO Terry Jimenez. “We believe tronc’s balance sheet and overall business prospects are the strongest they have been since the Company went public in 2014 and we are focused on continually improving from here.”
The newly branded tronc, or Tribune Online Content, pools the company’s various media brands and leverages technology with the intent of delivering more personalized, interactive experiences to Tribune’s 60 million monthly users.
Further reinforcing its commitment to technology, tronc transferred its stock exchange listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the NASDAQ back in June. Tronc even changed its stock ticker symbol to “TRNC.”