New York Times: Nothing sacred except the newspaper

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nothing is sacred except the flagship newspaper, New York Times Co (NYT.N) said on Tuesday, addressing investor concern over a sluggish share price and calls by an investor group to sell non-core assets.

The company, whose stock has sunk 35 percent since a high last June, faces a proxy battle by dissident shareholders Harbinger Capital Partners and Firebrand Partners, who aim to push the company to invest more heavily and quickly in digital businesses.

The dissident group, which owns 19 percent of the company's publicly traded Class A shares, is seeking four board seats up for election by shareholders at the next annual shareholder meeting on April 22. The other nine board members are elected by the Ochs-Sulzberger family.

"We are not married to any one asset, other than the New York Times newspaper," Chief Financial Officer James Follo said at the annual Bear Stearns media conference in Florida, referring to the newspaper and its Web site. But he added, "We're not going to do a deal until the valuation is right."

The role of the Times newspaper in setting the U.S. news agenda was highlighted again this week with its report that New York Governor Eliot Spitzer had been linked to a prostitution ring. Times executives at the Florida conference said the story had helped boost traffic to its NYTimes.com Web site by 60 percent.

Spitzer has neither confirmed nor denied the report, but he apologized to his family and the public on Monday, saying he had "failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself."

The report has triggered political upheaval in New York and calls for his resignation.

Wall Street analysts and sources familiar with the dissident investor group's thinking have identified the Boston Globe, the estimated $1 billion New York Times building in Times Square, and a collection of regional newspapers as possible candidates for a sale.

But some analysts say the company, whipped by an industrywide decline in print advertising and circulation, has already taken steps in the right direction. Their view is that a speedy sale of assets in a tough climate for newspaper valuations would add little to shareholder value.

New York Times Co executives told investors on Tuesday the company routinely evaluates its portfolio of businesses, which also includes the Boston Red Sox baseball team, the International Herald Tribune and Web information site About.com.

Addressing calls by some investors to sell off the financially lackluster Boston Globe and 14 regional newspapers, Chief Executive Janet Robinson said the time wasn't right to consider a sale, given the low valuations the market has ascribed to newspaper properties. She said the company would continue to review its position.

Shares of New York Times Co were down 8 cents to $17.14 in midday trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Kenneth Li; editing by John Wallace)