Business World

Lee Enterprises Inc., the parent company of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, said Monday that its independent auditor would probably raise concern about the future of the company when Lee files its annual report by year’s end.

KPMG has told the Davenport, Iowa-based publisher that it will file a "going concern" statement unless Lee can refinance $306 million in debt by the end of December. Typically, auditors issue such a statement as a warning that a company may fail.

Lee also said it planned to write down at least $180 million in assets for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ended Sept. 28. That move, unless lenders agree otherwise, would trigger a default on the $306 million in debt that Lee assumed when it bought Pulitzer Inc. in 2005. That default, in turn, would trigger a default on credit agreements Lee renegotiated in October. The company said that it was talking with lenders to restructure the $306 million debt, due in April, and that it continued to pay down the liability.

"Lenders have shown a willingness to work toward acceptable solutions to help us avoid violating performance conditions in our debt agreements," Lee chief executive Mary Junck said in a statement Monday wired payday loan.

Like most newspaper companies, Lee has been hit by falling advertising revenue and circulation as customers and advertisers have migrated to the Internet and cut back because of the weak economy.

"Even in this recession, Lee continues to generate substantial cash flow, and we continue to believe that Lee will emerge strong when all the national economic turbulence ends," Junck said.

RELATED LINKS

 Get more business news, blogs and opinion

Source