Clear Channel Earnings Plummet 60 Percent ....hahaha...too bad

[RedEarth]

SAN ANTONIO - Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s third-quarter profit fell nearly 60 percent from the same period in 2003, which had been inflated by the nation's largest radio station operator's sale of its stake in a Spanish-language broadcasting network.


Clear Channel said Friday that it earned $261.2 million, or 44 cents per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, down from $636 million, or $1.03 a share, in the year-ago period.


Thomson First Call said the consensus of industry analysts it surveyed was for earnings of 43 cents per share for the most recent quarter.


Clear Channel's year-ago results reflected gains on its sale of its stake in Univision Communications Inc. Without the one-time gains, Clear Channel's third-quarter profit in 2003 would have been $237 million, or 38 cents per share.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041029/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_clear_channel_4