This improvement was partly offset by an 18 percent increase in newsprint costs.

The company has said the changes will save $18 million a year in newsprint costs.

"It's not like newsprint costs are going to kill me," he said.

Newspapers have been raising their prices because of high newsprint costs.

The analysts said the results were widely expected because of soft advertising spending and rising newsprint costs.

It attributed the gain to lower newsprint costs and cost containment.

Historically, below-budget newsprint costs would be expected to show up on a newspaper's bottom line.

At the same time, newsprint costs rose almost 6 percent.

"So, if volume is flat and newsprint costs are up, it could put a squeeze on earnings," he said.

The company estimates that newsprint costs will increase by $70 million this year.