Time Inc shares drop on NYSE debut

The share price of newly formed media organisation Time Inc fell yesterday (June 9th) on the back of the firm's arrival on the New York Stock Exchange.

After stocks in the company were made available on the index for the first time, their value fell by around six per cent, before recovering later in the session. By the end of the day, stocks in Time Inc were just 0.8 per cent down on the start of trading, ending the firm's first session on the New York Stock Exchange 18 cents lower at $23.30 (£13.86).

Time Inc has been formed by parent company Time Warner spinning off the publishing arm of the business, with titles such as Time, People, Sports Illustrated and Fortune produced by the firm. In total, Time Inc is responsible for dozens of websites and almost 100 magazines.

Chief executive of the company Joe Ripp has vowed to pursue acquisitions in the coming months and told Reuters in an interview that he believes the future is bright for Time Inc.

He said: "I think you're going to be seeing lots of acquisitions from us. Some smaller and some a little bit bigger, but I'm not looking at anything for $1 billion right now. There's nothing like that in my sights."

Debt levels

Time Inc has a large amount of debt that it took on when splitting off from the parent company, with the firm responsible for approximately $1.3 billion in total. In a bid to save money for the business, Time Inc is set to leave its famous offices in the Time-Life building in midtown Manhattan for a less expensive location in New York in the coming months.

Ken Doctor, a research analyst at Outsell Inc, explained Time Inc is facing competition from new media businesses and this may make it difficult for it to have a major impact on the New York Stock Exchange.

He said: "You can manage declines but at some point you've got to have a way to turn around that story."

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