New York Times digital subscriber growth slows, shares drop

(Reuters) - The New York Times Co reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit but the company added fewer paid digital subscribers, sending its shares down about 5 percent in premarket trading.

The company added 109,000 paid digital subscribers in the second quarter, compared with 114,000 a year earlier, when it offered heavy discounts for annual subscriptions.

Digital advertising revenue, which accounts for more than a third of the company's total advertising revenue, fell 7.5 percent to $51 million, hurt by a fall in display advertising.

"This was a subdued quarter for digital advertising as we predicted, but we remain confident that we will return to strong year-over-year growth in the third quarter," Chief Executive Officer Mark Thompson said in a statement.

 

Net income attributable jumped 51 percent to $23.6 million, or 14 cents per share, in the quarter.

Excluding items, the company earned 17 cents per share, above the average analyst estimate of 15 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose to $414.6 million from $407.1 million, above estimates of $412.3 million.

(Reporting by Akanksha Rana and Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)