Shares of McClatchy Co., publisher of the Miami Herald, Sacramento (Calif.) Bee and many other newspapers, jumped Tuesday after the company's fourth-quarter net income surprised analysts by nearly tripling.

The Sacramento, Calif.-based media company reported net income of $42 million, or 49 cents a share, up about 184 percent from $14.8 million, or 17 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The company reported operating income of $90.3 million, up 6.4 percent compared with $84.9 million in the year earlier period.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting earnings of 35 cents a share.

Shares soared 21.21 percent to $2.72 in late-afternoon trading.

Total revenue in the three-month period slipped to $351.4 million, down five percent from $369.9 million. However, operating expenses declined to $261.2 million, down 9.1 percent from $285.1 million in 2010.

The company cut labor costs by 14.5 percent in the quarter compared with the year-earlier period.

McClatchy paid $13.9 million in severance during the full year.

Like most newspaper publishers, the company's advertising revenue continued to slump. McClatchy brought in $271 million in advertising revenue, down 5.7 percent compared with the year-earlier period. Most ad revenue came from McClatchy's print products, which were down 6.5 percent from 2010 to $220.9 million. Digital advertising revenue fell two percent from 2010 to $50.1 million.

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