Friday, January 30, 2009

News: Gannett reports lowered 4Q earnings on weak ads

NEW YORK -- Gannett Co. (owner of WKYC-TV) is reporting lower preliminary fourth-quarter earnings, and says it expects to take writedowns of as much as $5.9 billion to reflect the declining value of its newspapers.

Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper publisher, says preliminary net income fell to $158 million, or 69 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, down 36 percent from a year ago, as advertising revenue continues to take a beating because of the
recession.

Severance and other expenses related to job cuts have further reduced profits.

The figures do not reflect the accounting writedowns, which Gannett expects to total $5.1 billion to $5.9 billion before taxes.

Excluding severance charges, earnings were 85 cents a share, slightly above the 81 cents a share expected by analysts.

Revenue fell 8.5 percent to $1.74 billion, below expectations of $1.79 billion.

Source: The Associated Press