TheStreet Trims Loss as Sales Grow

(TheStreet earnings story updated to provide management commentary from the company's first-quarter conference call.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- TheStreet(TSCM), the financial media group that publishes this Web site, reduced its first-quarter loss significantly as advertising and subscription bookings improved from the lows reached a year ago amid the financial crisis.

The results follow a year during which TheStreet shed its unprofitable marketing unit, Promotions.com, where accounting issues had forced the company to restate financial results for 2008.

For the period ended March 31, the company's net loss amounted to $1.4 million, or 5 cents a share. A year ago, TheStreet posted a loss of $46 million, or $1.51 a share, which included $2 million in restructuring costs, a $24 million asset impairment charge and $16.5 million in income tax provisions.

On the top line, revenue came to $13.5 million, flat with the year-ago period, due to the exclusion of Promotions.com revenue this year.

Excluding results from the divested Promotions.com, which TheStreet sold in December, the company's revenue rose 7% from $12.7 million in the first quarter of 2009, while its loss narrowed from $44.9 million.

Aggregate bookings for its subscription services and RateWatch businesses rose 18% year over year, the company said, while premium services revenue increased 2% to $9.7 million.

"Since early last year, we have been placing intense focus on expanding the scale and profitability of our premium services businesses," said TheStreet's CEO, Daryl Otte, in a written statement. "We are glad these efforts already have been yielding strong results and we look forward to continuing our focus on this area."

Advertising sales in the first quarter amounted to $3.8 million, up 20% from a year ago, a figure that also excludes the impact of Promotions.com.

The company said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the first quarter was $600,000, up from an EBITDA loss (excluding Promotions.com) of $100,000 a year ago.

On the balance sheet, the company remained debtless, with a cash position of $81.7 million, which is lower by $1.4 million from Dec. 31, reflecting dividends, capital expenditures and employee stock compensation.

"We expect to benefit from the ongoing secular shift of advertising dollars towards digital media, as well as to benefit from any cyclical strengthening of the advertising market," Otte said in the statement.