UPDATE 2-Lee Enterprises to take write-down

(Adds details on St. Louis partnership)

SAN FRANCISCO, March 28 (Reuters) - St. Louis Post-Dispatch publisher Lee Enterprises Inc (LEE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Friday it expects to write down about $500 million to $700 million after taxes for the quarter ending March 30, 2008.

Lee said the write-down, which it called an impairment charge, would result in a loss for the quarter and for the full year ending Sept. 28, 2008. It said the complex nature of the calculations involved means the final amount cannot be determined now, and would not be finalized for several months.

Second-quarter earnings also will include a charge of 17 cents a share as Lee records the current value of its future liability related to a 5 percent minority share in a partnership it is involved with in St. Louis.

The noncash charge is similar to one that other publishers, including McClatchy Co (MNI.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), have taken as the value of their newspaper properties plummets amid an ongoing advertising slump.

Some of the write-down involves goodwill and intangible assets related to Lee's 2005 purchase of Post-Dispatch publisher Pulitzer Inc, Chief Financial Officer Carl Schmidt said.

Lee's shares are trading far off their 52-week high of $30.91 in April 2007 as it and other newspaper publishers' shares have fallen, reflecting lower ad revenue in their print newspapers. Based on Lee's closing share price on Friday, the company's market value is about $502 million, about one-third the $1.46 billion that it paid for Pulitzer.

In an interview, Schmidt said Lee believes strongly in the future of its business.

"We're certainly in a period now where I think general economic conditions are contributing to the pessimism," he said. "We certainly believe and have said publicly from time to time that ... the market has over-reacted to what has happened in our industry, and that's unfortunate."

Lee shares fell 31 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $10.76 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Robert Macmillan; editing by Gunna Dickson, Gary Hill) (robert.macmillan@reuters.com; +1 646 223 6012; Reuters Messaging: robert.macmillan.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Click here to see Reuters MediaFile blog