Time Inc. reported its adjusted operating income in the fourth quarter grew 14 percent from the previous year — giving Wall Street a little confidence in the publisher.
Investors pushed the stock higher by a nickel, to $19.05, at Thursday’s close.
Digital advertising, as expected, popped 63 percent.
But that was where most of the good news ended and the bumpy road began.
Chief Executive Rich Battista said he expected adjusted operating profits in 2017 to be about flat with last year.
“We’re taking a very pragmatic approach to our plan,” he said.
Meanwhile, takeover talks are keeping the stock healthy.
That’s not far off its 52-week high of $20.40 and far above its 52-week low of $12.50, where it was bumping along before takeover talks erupted in late November.
The takeover battle pits a team consisting of Edgar Bronfman Jr., former Maker Studios boss Ynon Kreiz and Warner Music Chairman Len Blavatnik against local TV-station owner and big magazine publisher Meredith Corp.
Talks are in the early stages, and no deadline for any bid looms.
Back with the business, top-line revenue was off 1 percent, to $3.076 billion, because of the continued decline of print advertising and circulation, which still account for the majority of the company’s revenue.
Total digital revenue for the year “exceeded $500 million” and is expected to grow to more than $600 million in 2017, Battista said. The plan is to reach $1 billion in digital revenue over the next several years through “organic” growth.
Battista is under no illusion that print will revive. “Managing print declines is a way of life in our business now,” he said.
The company is not too likely to make any transformative deals. Its capital expenditures are expected to be light, only “around $80 million to $90 million.”
There are some observers who still look on the decline in print as sign that the company overall is still distressed.
Battista insists that the company has been transformed. “We see market disruptions as an opportunity,” he said.
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