(RTTNews) - The New York Times Company (NYT) said the company ended the fourth quarter of 2021 with approximately 7.6 million paid subscribers with approximately 8,789,000 paid subscriptions across its print and digital products. Of the 7.6 million subscribers, 6.8 million were paid digital subscribers with 8,005,000 paid digital-only subscriptions, a net increase of 375,000 subscriptions compared with the end of the third quarter of 2021 and a net increase of 1,273,000 subscriptions compared with the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. Looking forward, the company plans to increasingly promote a high-value New York Times bundled digital subscription, and has set a new goal of at least 15 million total subscribers to The Times by year-end 2027.
On February 1, 2022, the company completed the acquisition of The Athletic Media Company for an all-cash purchase price of $550 million. With the acquisition of The Athletic, the company surpassed 10 million subscriptions, well ahead of its stated goal of reaching that milestone by 2025.
Fourth quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations was $0.43 compared to $0.40, prior year. Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $0.35 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Fourth quarter earnings came in at $69.89 million, or $0.41 per share compared to $10.01 million, or $0.06 per share, prior year.
Fourth quarter revenue rose 16.7% to $594.23 million from $509.36 million last year. Analysts on average had estimated $578.93 million in revenue. Subscription revenues increased 11.2 percent to $351.2 million. Subscription revenue from digital-only products increased 23.1 percent, to $205.5 million.
Also, New York Times Company achieved $2 billion in annual revenue for the first time since 2012.
The company has adopted a change to its fiscal calendar and as a result, 2022 fiscal year will end on December 31, 2022 and thereafter be the calendar year.
The company's Board declared a $.09 dividend per share on the Class A and Class B common stock, an increase of $.02 from the previous quarter. The dividend is payable on April 21, 2022, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 6, 2022. Also, the Board approved a $150 million class A stock repurchase program.
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