Sun-Times Media reports $35.8 million loss for first quarter

CHICAGO -- Sun-Times Media Group Inc. says it had a dramatically wider net loss of $35.8 million in the first quarter on continued steep declines in advertising revenue and circulation.

The company says it is on track to reach its goal of reducing operating costs by $50 million this year.

But Chief Executive Cyrus Freidheim says the industrywide slump coupled with the weakened economy hurt the newspaper company again in the quarter.

Chicago-based Sun-Times Media said Thursday it lost 44 cents per share, compared with a loss $4.8 million, or 6 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Sun-Times Media says first-quarter advertising revenue was down 12.6 percent from a year earlier and circulation revenue was down 8.4 percent. The company also had another $5.5 million in legal costs in the quarter.

The company's fast-dwindling stock value dropped another 25 percent in Thursday trading, declining by 17 cents to 52 cents a share.