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To: Alan Smithee who wrote (302415)	4/23/2009 11:36:01 AM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 794042

Analyst: NYT stock could be worth zero Jacksonville Business Journal - by Tim McLaughlin A case could be made that New York Times Co. shares are worth nothing as the newspaper company’s debt load threatens to overwhelm its earnings power, a Barclays Capital analyst said Wednesday. “Net debt to (operating profit) is way too high,” Barclays analyst Craig Huber said in a research note. “We could argue the stock to zero given the high debt load.” The New York Times Co. posted heavy losses in the first quarter, with executives largely blaming New England newspaper operations that mostly consist of the Boston Globe. The newspaper’s unions recently received an ultimatum to slash costs or face shutting down. Even if the New York Times Co. unloaded its 17.75 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures (NESV), which includes the Boston Red Sox, for an estimated $150 million after-tax, Huber estimated, the company’s year-end net debt would be 4.5 times EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). That’s still too high, Huber said. “In our opinion, newspapers cannot cost cut themselves to prosperity and an online-only newspaper model is not profitable, not even close,” Huber said in his research note. He cut the company’s stock price target to $1 a share. New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) shares closed Wednesday at $4.94. Huber pegs the private market value of the Globe at $100 million, a far cry from the nearly $1.1 billion the New York Times Co. paid for the paper in 1993. He estimates the Globe will generate about $359 million in revenue this year, resulting in an EBITDA loss of nearly $27 million. New York Times Co. bought its stake in NESV in February 2002 for $75 million. “We view the 17.75 percent stake in the Boston Red Sox as having among the very best long-term asset appreciation potential at the company, and thus we are disappointed that the company needs to sell it,” Huber said. “... In our opinion, the long-term viability of the company may be at stake, though.” Daily newspapers nationwide are struggling amid declining circulation and the recession-driven decline of advertising revenues.