Newspaper sales jack profits at Bristol Press parent

Yardley, Pa.-based Journal Register Co. rode a $28 million windfall from the sale of its Mass. and R.I. newspapers to a first quarter net income of $29.1 million, or 74 cents per diluted share. In the same quarter a year ago, the company, which publishes the Middletown Press, Bristol Press and New Britain Herald, reported net income of $1.8 million, or 4 cents per diluted share. In February, the publisher sold all of its newspapers in Connecticut’s neighboring states, including the Fall River Herald News (Mass.) and the Times of Pawtucket (R.I). Excluding the sale of those newspapers, net income for the quarter was $1.5 million.