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http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080716/gannett.html?.v=1
Gannett quarterly profit falls, plans writedown
Wednesday July 16, 8:49 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gannett Co Inc (NYSE:GCI - News), the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, posted a 36 percent drop in preliminary quarterly profit on Wednesday because of a worsening decline in print advertising sales, and said it plans to take a writedown that could be as high as $2.9 billion.
Gannett, which publishes USA Today, the largest U.S. newspaper by circulation, said second-quarter net income fell to $232.7 million, or $1.02 a share, from $365.7 million, or $1.56 a share, in the same quarter a year ago.
Revenue fell 10 percent to $1.72 billion.
The non-cash writedown, which is for the impairment of goodwill and other assets, could range from $2.6 billion to $2.9 billion before taxes, and from $2.4 billion to $2.7 billion after taxes, Gannett said.
Gannett is the first of the publicly traded U.S. newspaper companies to report financial results this quarter. The decline in print advertising sales is likely to show up in other publishers such as Media General Inc (NYSE:MEG - News), which is expected to report its results on Thursday.
(Reporting by Robert MacMillan; editing by John Wallace)