Publisher Ma'ariv Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MARV), the owner of Hebrew daily "Ma'ariv", published its financial report for the second quarter of 2010 after the market closed yesterday. The report includes all the companies engaged in the production and printing of the newspaper, local papers, and magazines, news site nrg, and Ma'ariv Publishing House.
Ma'ariv states that an increase in budgets for online advertising, including on its website, and a 32% drop in the price of paper reduced the company's loss. Ma'ariv's net loss fell 15% to NIS 22.3 million (NIS 0.89 per share) for the second quarter from NIS 26.4 million for the corresponding quarter of 2009. First half net loss fell to NIS 33 million from NIS 37.8 million for the first half of last year.
Revenue fell to NIS 82.7 million for the second quarter from NIS 90.1 million for the corresponding quarter. Nonetheless, a reduction in the cost of sales to NIS 62.7 million for the second quarter from NIS 74.8 million for the corresponding quarter, combined with a reduction in administrative and general expenses to NIS 11 million from NIS 14.2 million, enabled Ma'ariv to narrow its operating loss for the second quarter to NIS 16.3 million from NIS 23.5 million for the corresponding quarter.
Cash flow fell to NIS 12.1 million for the second quarter from NIS 14.1 million for the corresponding quarter.
Ma'ariv's share is on the TASE maintenance list, which restricts trading to a short period in the morning (a preopening stage from 8:30 am, and an opening stage around 10:30 of a few minutes). The share price is NIS 3.68, giving a market cap of NIS 94 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 1, 2010
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