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Marc Tellier, chief executive of Yellow Media Inc., formerly Yellow Pages, shows the company's new logo at their head office Monday, March 22, 2010 in Montreal.Ryan Remiorz

Yellow Media says it lost $34.6-million in the first quarter, as it booked a writedown related to the proposed sale of Trader Corp., home of AutoTrader magazine.

The Montreal-based publisher of the Yellow Pages print and online directories said the loss compared to earnings of $127.1-million a year earlier.

In the most recent quarter, Yellow Media's results were impacted by a $112-million writedown for the pending sale of Trader, and the division's results were booked as discontinued operations.

The company recently sold Trader Corp. for $745-million to help reduce debt, after paying $1.2-billion for the division about five years ago.

Yellow Media said quarterly earnings from continuing operations were down to $70.5-million, compared with $120.4-million for the same quarter of 2010. Earnings per share from continuing operations were 13 cents, compared to 23 cents for the same period of 2010.

Revenue grew slightly to $349.4-million from $339.7-million a year prior.

Analysts' estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters put Yellow Media's revenue at $415-million with a low of $406-million to a high of $424-million.

Earnings per share were estimated at 18 cents with a low of 10 cents to a high of 23 cents.

The owner of the Yellow Pages online and print directories, is transitioning itself to a digital company, and has said it expects its digital growth to be about 25 per cent of its revenues this year.

The company also wants to increase its share of national advertising with the creation of Mediative, which comes from last year's acquisition of three companies. Yellow Media now builds websites for small and medium-sized businesses and can provide such services as video production.

Last year, Yellow Media made several acquisitions including engine and directory publisher Canpages for $225-million, and Clear Sky Media Inc., owner of bargain hunting site RedFlagDeals.com, technology shopping comparison site PriceCanada.com, and Scarlett Lounge.

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