Many publishing companies are struggling to compete with Internet-based news and information services, but Des Moines-based Meredith Corp. is faring better than others, the International Herald Tribune reported.

Last week, a big topic of conversation at the Magazine Media 2.0 conference in Hannover, Germany, was the “new era in media” that the publishing industry is embarking on, marked by readers and advertising sales shifting from print to online. Magazine and newspaper companies have responded to the challenge of retaining readers and advertisers by buying digital media companies, online advertising firms and search engines.

But the online investments are not producing the results that many companies had anticipated. When asked if they were making more of their sales online, only a few of the 350 companies represented at the conference said, in a show of hands, that they. And only one company, Meredith, said it was making a profit.

Bill Kerr, Meredith’s chairman, said the profit his company is making from its 32 Web sites is coming mainly from Web advertising and subscription referrals, not from the sale of text. He attributed part of Meredith’s success to the longevity of many of its magazines.