Profits Warning at New York Times

The United States east coast's leading newspaper group, the New York Times, yesterday warned on profits after weaker than expected advertising sales so far this month.

The news increased fears that the autumn is shaping up to be weaker than US publishers had hoped and sent shares in the company to their lowest level for two years.

Similar profit warnings have emerged over recent weeks from US stalwarts Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal, and local newspaper and online information group Knight Ridder.

The New York Times Company, which owns the eponymous paper as well as the Boston Globe, reported an increase of almost 8% in advertising revenue for last month but warned that the trend has not continued.

The company said its trading in September "has failed to demonstrate the kind of consistent revenue growth we had been looking for" as it enters the autumn period.

The US newspaper industry had been hoping to see a steady recovery in an unsettled advertising market following the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001.

It is a particular blow for the New York Times, whose editorial integrity was rocked last year by news that articles by star reporter Jayson Blair had been fabricated.

The company explained that advertisers had been slow in spending their money because of the timing of the Labor Day holiday, while costs had risen recently.

As a result, its full-year results would be either in line or slightly below what Wall Street analysts had been forecasting, the group warned.

Dow Jones this month reduced its forecast for quarterly profits owing to weakness in the advertising market.

Meanwhile, Knight Ridder warned that its results would be worse than expected because of the impact of recent storms in Florida on its local newspapers.

Shares in New York Times Company dropped almost 2% to $40.12, their lowest point since July 2002.