The Times Tells the Story

One bit of news that the New York Times has never seen fit to print was a statement of its annual earnings and condition. Last week, in a detailed story on its financial page, the Times broke precedent and published its first annual report. With characteristic reserve, the Times announced that its ledger had been kept in good, black ink ever since 1896, when it was bought by the late Adolph Ochs for $75,000. Total profits for 1957: $3,010,067.

Since Ochs's death in 1935, the family has kept control of the tightly held company through his trust. (In all, the Times has fewer than 200 stockholders.) But with the passage of years, as Publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger, 66, son-in-law of Publisher Ochs, explained in his statement, "estates owning Times stock have been distributed, and as a result, more and more individuals, including the trustees of educational and charitable institutions, have a legitimate interest in seeing our reports."

Paper Profit. In a handsomely printed three-color booklet, Sulzberger laid out the financial anatomy of the U.S.'s No. 1 newspaper and its countingroom history for the past five years. Most startling news revealed by the report: from 1953 to 1957, fully 53% of the robust Times's profits came not from publishing but from papermaking--a 42% interest bought in 1926 in the Spruce Falls Power & Paper Co. Ltd. in Toronto, Ont., which supplies two-thirds of the company's high-quality newsprint. With such a solid profit foundation, the Times had seven-figure nets in all five years, but its publishing profits in 1953 and 1954, confirming reports of the time, were barely beyond break-even. The figures:

NET INCOME AFTER TAXES

From From

Publishing Spruce Falls Total

1953 $ 71,985 $1,166,393 $1,238,378

1954 61,346 1,171,205 1,232,551

1955 1,384,589 1,309,306 3,230,777*

1956 2,287,304 1,347,008 3,634,312

1957 1,462,814 1,547,253 3,010,067 Despite rising production costs (up 38%), the Times netted $12.3 million in the past five years, plowed $8,000,000 back into the newspaper. The $624,245 drop in 1957 profits from the peak year of 1956 was caused by rising costs and the recession, which slimmed down the plump Help Wanted classifieds by 24.2%, lowered overall ad revenue from a record $67.2 million to $66.9 million.

Lion's Share. Despite its good grey editorial tone, the Times is a lively and politely relentless competitor in the scramble for subscribers and ads. From 1947 through last year, the daily Times's circulation climbed from 543,583 to 638,006, the Sunday Times from 1,092,054 to 1,285,732--and the two papers increased their lion's share of the total advertising carried by all major New York papers from 23.4% to 30.6%. Pitted against the Times, the rival Herald Tribune floundered badly. Its circulation held steady at about half the Times's, even rose a bit. But over the ten-year period, it lost 3.3% of its share of ads.

This year, with the recession lowering its first-quarter ad linage by 5.3% from 1957 figures, the Times is hustling harder than ever for new subscribers. Circulation is up over 1957 figures by 10,363 on weekdays and 13,994 on Sundays.

Back at work after recovering from a stroke, Sulzberger oversees the Times (1957 payroll: $33.3 million) from his small office, which was once a sitting room for the adjoining ballroom-sized office that Ochs used. A polite perfectionist, Sulzberger plans no major switches in the Times's tried formula. "We're always making minor changes--we never try to startle." Major future project is the erection of a modern new home for the paper on a four-block-long frontage on Manhattan's West Side. Already begun, its first building will be completed in 1959, will cost some $20 million.

*Including $536,882 nonrecurring gain on sale of real estate.

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