NEW YORK TIMES DOWN TO $34 MILLION IN THE BANK…Total Revenue Down 18.6 Percent; Debt at $1.3 Billion
As The New York Times Co. tries to bask in the glory of having bagged five Pulitzers, the company is facing a cash crunch 
that could put it on the path toward insolvency.
According to its first-quarter earnings report, the Times said it had cash and cash equivalents totaling $294 million.
However, $260 million of that is earmarked to pay off debt that matures in March 2010, effectively leaving the company with $34 million.
That’s a particularly precarious position to be in, given the Gray Lady posted a wider-than-expected, first-quarter loss of $74.5 million amid worsening advertising declines, and is scrambling to raise cash as it labors under a $1.3 billion debt load.
On top of that, the company finds itself on the hook for a $625 million shortfall in its pension and benefit obligations, and could be forced to spend millions to shore it up starting next year.
To be sure, the company made clear that it has room under its credit facility to pay off $44.5 million in debt due at the end of the year.
But the Times is having a rough time raising cash, and has few other options.
The company’s lifeblood — advertising — got walloped in the first quarter, plunging 27 percent, or $124 million, and Times CEO Janet Robinson gave a bleak outlook for the second quarter.
However, she said things were looking up for the second half of the year.
“We do see signs and we hear comments from advertisers that lead us to believe that they are saving dollars in the first half to do possibly more in the second half,” she said during a conference call.
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NYT made decisions sealing its fate as early as 1995 when it declined buying into Monster.com. NYT was so convinced of its old business model it refused to consider changes, and now the market has shifted leaving NYT uneconomic. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com