The reason: Rising health-care costs combined with depressed corporate earnings are providing an incentive for companies to look for ways to trim benefits.

With companies already facing depressed earnings because of the strong dollar and higher costs, the sales fall-off forced the industry into painful actions.

The company also said higher costs related to selling depressed earnings in the biscuit unit.

Such problems depressed earnings a few years ago and led to a shakeup in management.

The reports were the latest in series of depressed earnings from the media industry, where advertising demand has sagged with the economy.

Industrial companies continued to report generally depressed second-quarter earnings yesterday.

Instead, they may simply suffer through the next few years with depressed earnings because their bond investments pay interest rates that are below market.

The ascent in interest rates, to 8.38 percent this week, has slowed new lending and depressed earnings of mortgage companies, making them takeover targets.

The merger is expected to increase the annual revenue of the companies, which have been suffering from depressed earnings.

These items combined depressed fourth-quarter earnings by $11.6 million.