New York, United States: The New York Times Co. reported a jump in profit in the fourth quarter as the newspaper group contained operating costs while revenues stayed flat.

Profit rose to $51.7 million in the quarter from $34.9 million a year earlier. Revenue meanwhile held unchanged at $444.7 million.

‘We ended the year with a solid quarter, with strong growth in adjusted operating profit and digital advertising and consumer revenue, and the addition of 53,000 net new paid digital-only subscribers, the largest number of new subscribers in a quarter in three years,’ said Mark Thompson, president and chief executive.

‘We also succeeded in significantly reducing our costs.’

The earnings report said operating costs were trimmed 4.1 percent in the quarter through ‘efficiencies in print production and distribution as well as declines in severance, depreciation, amortization and raw materials costs.’

Circulation revenues got a lift from growth in digital subscriptions and an increase in home-delivery prices, which offset a decline in print copies sold.

The number of paid digital-only subscribers rose to 1,094,000 as of the end of the fourth quarter, a rise of 53,000 in that period and up 20 percent from a year earlier.

Print advertising revenue decreased 6.6 percent while digital advertising revenue increased 10.6 percent in the quarter. Digital accounted for 24 percent of total ad revenue.

The prestigious daily, seeking to navigate a shift to digital readership, has made strong gains in paid online readership. But in terms of overall online visitors it was overtaken last year by the Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos since 2013.