A new report says sales of U.S. magazines at newsstands and other retail outlets fell 9 percent in the first six months of the year in a sign of readers trimming discretionary spending. Although overall circulation was down just 1 percent, the larger drop in the single-copy sales figure is troubling for magazine publishers. That’s because publishers typically make more from those sales than from subscriptions, which are sold at a discount so publishers can boost circulation and lure advertisers. Single-copy sales have been steadily declining. The Audit Bureau of Circulations, an industry trade group, says that in the latest period, the 418 titles examined sold 29.8 million copies, compared with 32.8 million a year earlier. Overall circulation was 301 million, down from 305 million.
ESPN growth aids Disney profits
Disney says its net income in the latest quarter rose 11 percent as growth at ESPN, its theme parks and consumer products businesses outweighed lackluster performance at its movie studio and interactive unit. The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that net income in the fiscal third quarter, which ended July 2, grew to $1.48 billion, or 77 cents per share. That’s up from $1.33 billion, or 67 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding restructuring and impairment charges at its movie studio, adjusted earnings came to 78 cents per share, beating the 73 cents expected by analysts polled by FactSet.
GM to reduce number of vehicle frames
General Motors plans to be leaner in the future by cutting in half the number of car and truck frames it uses worldwide. The company also says it will increase factory capacity by 45 percent in Brazil, Russia, India and China by 2014 to take advantage of growth. GM made the statements Tuesday in slide presentations for its annual global business conference for industry analysts. The slides say that GM-built cars and trucks on 30 different frames last year. That number would be cut to 14 by 2018, saving on engineering, design and manufacturing costs.
From Herald news services
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