Earnings: Martha Stewart Q2 Loss Grows; Internet Revnues Rise 12 Percent

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) posted a growing net loss in Q2, coming in down $7.8 million, compared to last year’s $1.8 million loss. On the up side, revenues gained 7.7 percent to $73.4 million, including a 23.1 percent increase in ad revenue for the company’s Publishing segment. Other highlights included:

– Publishing: Operating income was $5.1 million, a 16.4 percent drop from last year’s $6.1 million. Revenues rose 16 percent to $47.5 million from $40.9 million, driven by ongoing growth in ad revenue, thanks to a greater number of ad pages at higher rates.

– Internet: Revenues were up 12 percent year-over-year to $5.2 million, rising from Q206′s$4.6 million, driven by 17 percent growth in ad revenue. Still, the segment’s operating loss was $2.1 million, compared with the break even results for the same period the year before. Increased revenue was more than offset by higher costs stemming from its website’s new platform, including higher technology and staffing costs.

– Traffic on the new website increased modestly, rising 4.1 percent to 38 million pageviews per month from 36.5 million. To ramp up traffic, the company is plans to increase the amount of content on the site and focus on search engine optimization. MSLO also hopes that the recruitment of Wenda Harris Millard, from her role as chief sales officer at Yahoo, to the newly created position of president, Media, will also provide an additional boost in Q3.

– Broadcasting: Revenues fell roughly 12 percent to $10.4 million, down from $11.8 million. Q206 included revenue from the cable distribution of the show. The ending of a cable agreement along with the erosion of the daytime TV audience were the reasons given for the decline. The segment also incurred an operating loss of $0.9 million, compared to operating income of $0.4 million last year. More to come. Earnings release | Webcast (10:00 a.m. EST)