Time Inc. Shrinking Again
Not a good sign for the magazine business: A rough quarter for Time Inc., the world’s biggest magazine publisher.
Revenues dropped 3 percent for the first three months of the year, while operating income shrank by 38 percent.
Corporate parent Time Warner blamed the decline on both slowing ad sales (down 5 percent) and newsstand sales (circulation revenue was down 2 percent).
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes occasionally calls out Time Inc.’s efforts to get its titles onto the iPad and other tablets, and the unit has some digital success stories on the Web. But no one expects Time Inc. to turn into a high-growth business again.
Still, over the last few years it has managed to at least show improvements in its operating profits, as a result of layoffs and corporate restructuring.
Laura Lang, the unit’s newly appointed CEO, is Time Inc.’s third boss in two years. She has her work cut out for her.