(02-26) 05:20 PST NEW YORK, (AP) —

Media company CBS Corp. reported a 14.6 percent decline in fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday as revenue slipped, but adjusted earnings still beat analysts’ expectations.

CBS earned $286.2 million or 42 cents per share in the three months ending in December, down from $335 million or 43 cents per share in the same period a year ago.

Revenues fell 3 percent to $3.76 billion from $3.88 billion a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings fell to $366.7 million from $410.6 million. But adjusted per-share earnings rose to 54 cents from 53 cents due share repurchases, beating analysts’ estimates of 52 cents.

CBS’s earnings from television fell 6 percent on a 4 percent decline in revenues, largely due to lower political advertising sales from the high levels in the year-ago period during the 2006 campaign season and also due to TV station sales.

Earnings from radio fell 21 percent on a 10 percent decline in revenues on lower advertising revenues as well as the sales of radio stations in 10 cities.

Outdoor advertising remained a bright spot, with earnings rising 19 percent on a 7 percent gain in revenues, due to gains in Europe and Asia as well as favorable foreign exchange rates. Without the currency gains, revenues from outdoor advertising rose 2 percent.

CBS’s book publishing division Simon & Schuster reported a 24 percent decline in earnings on 4 percent lower revenues compared with a year ago, when the company had big-selling titles including “Lisey’s Story” by Stephen King.

CBS said it expects operating earnings to grow in the range of 3 percent to 5 percent for 2008.

For the full year, CBS earned $1.25 billion or $1.73 per share, down from $1.66 billion or $2.15 per share in 2006. Revenues edged down to $14.07 billion from $14.3 billion.

February 26, 2008 — The former CEO of The Children’s Place, who is angling to buy the kids’ apparel retailer, has filed a complaint demanding the company move up its annual meeting.

Ezra Dabah, who was ousted last September after an internal probe found he had violated company rules on securities trades, wants The Children’s Place to hold its annual meeting no later than April 4.

Dabah - a 17.2 percent stakeholder in the company - and private-equity firm Golden Gate have asked the board to consider a formal bid of $24 a share. He has hired Bear Stearns as his financial adviser.

Earlier this month, The Children’s Place set the board meeting for June 27. Noting that the company’s last annual meeting was held in June 2006, Dabah said in a securities filing that “there is no reason to delay the annual meeting for another four months.”

The reason for the delay, however, is obvious, according to sources close to the situation, who said The Children’s Place is avoiding answering Dabah’s request for permission to bid on the company.

In his latest filing, Dabah said that if the board refuses to grant its permission for the bid, it is “effectively depriving itself of the opportunity to review and consider, on behalf of the company’s stockholders, a premium offer to acquire the company.”

Sources close to the situation say the board is fearful that Dabah’s $24 bid is a low-ball offer that’s well below historic highs for the stock.

The Children’s Place shares, rose 3 percent, or 63 cents, to $21.38 in Nasdaq trading yesterday.

February 26, 2008 — Harbinger Capital Partners is tightening its grip on the New York Times and Chairman Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger Jr.

The investment firm yesterday raised the stakes in its bid to land four directors on the board of the Times by upping its holdings in the company to just over 19 percent.

Harbinger disclosed the move in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It comes less than a week since Harbinger - which along with Firebrand Partners has been aggressively buying up Times stock for the last few months - upped its holdings to 15.61 percent of the company.

But taking control of the Times’ board is currently a no-can-do because the Sulzbergers own more than two-thirds of the media giant’s Class B super-voting shares.

Shares in the company closed up 2.9 percent at $19.59 yesterday.

Deutsche Bank analyst Paul Ginocchio warned that any upswing the stock may be experiencing from the Harbinger push may quickly subside if the group doesn’t land its desired seats on the board.

Ginocchio downgraded his outlook on the Times yesterday, urging investors to sell the stock and lowering his price target on the company to $15 per share.

He said the Times is feeling the impact of a struggling ad market for newspapers - a trend he expects to continue through the next year

Harbinger and Firebrand are pushing for greater focus on online operations and the disposal of noncore assets.

In an effort to drive their agenda, the hedge funds recently sent a letter to Sulzberger outlining plans to nominate four directors at the annual meeting in April - setting up a potential proxy fight.

Times management last week urged shareholders to vote for its own four nominees for the board.

“Our board of directors unanimously recommends a vote for the election of each of our board’s nominees . . . and urges you not to sign or return any proxy card that you may receive from Harbinger,” the company said.