HOLLLINGER <HLG.TO> PAYING 50 MLN DLRS FOR BUY Hollinger Inc will pay about 50 mln dlrs cash for its previously reported acquisition of privately owned Unimedia Inc, chairman Conrad Black told reporters after the annual meeting, confirming a published report. Commenting on press reports about the 50 mln dlr price tag, Black said, "That would not be wildly inaccurate," although he declined to disclose the actual cost. Montreal-based Unimedia is Quebec's third largest newspaper group, with three French language daily newspapers in Quebec City, Ottawa and Chicoutimi, Quebec and four printing plants in Ontario and Quebec. Black added that Hollinger would also continue seeking acquisitions of daily newspapers with circulation under 25,000 readers. He said Hollinger was currently talking to about 10 such newspapers in the U.S. where the company currently owns 23 dailies. "There is really no end to the ones that are available," he told reporters, although he added that most remaining acquisition opportunities are in the U.S. He said that Hollinger's 58 pct-owned Daily Telegraph PLC, of London, should become profitable in this year's fourth quarter. For full-year 1987, the Daily Telegraph could break even or better, said Black, citing major reductions in labor costs and improved technology at the Telegraph, Britain's largest circulation quality daily. The Telegraph lost 13.2 mln Canadian dlrs last year. Daily Telegraph chief executive Andrew Knight told reporters after the meeting that the Telegraph's daily circulation had risen by 25,000 since September to about 1,150,000 on weekdays, despite added competition from the new Independent daily newspaper. Knight said The Independent was not affecting the Telegraph's growth, but was making inroads into the circulation of other London quality dailies such as The Times and The Guardian. Hollinger chairman Black predicted Hollinger would post 1987 net income of about 55 mln dlrs, or one dlr a share, including extraordinary gains from previous sales of discontinued operations. Hollinger lost 87 mln dlrs or 6.54 dlrs a share last year on fewer average shares and after an extraordinary loss of 52 mln dlrs. Black told shareholders that first quarter operating earnings on continuing operations amounted to 499,000 dlrs against a year-ago loss of 165,000 dlrs. Revenues on continuing operations rose to 102.1 mln dlrs from 1.5 mln dlrs last year, which did not include Daily Telegraph revenues, he added. Consolidated first quarter figures were not disclosed. He said the Daily Telegraph's first quarter operating loss was sharply reduced from last year.