Posted on 04/19/2007 7:38:35 AM PDT by abb
Gannett 1st-Quarter Earnings, Revenue Slide on Lower Ad Revenue
McLEAN, Va. (AP) -- Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. said first-quarter earnings fell 11 percent as newspaper advertising revenue dropped. Gannett, whose largest paper is USA Today, said net income fell to $210.6 million, or 90 cents per share, from $235.3 million, or 99 cents per share, a year ago.
The result surpassed by a penny the expectations on Wall Street, according to Thomson Financial.
Revenue slipped 1 percent to $1.87 billion from $1.88 billion last year, but was in line with analyst expectations. Newspaper ad revenue, the largest component of the total, dropped 2 percent from a year-ago.
The continued troubles in the housing market lowered demand for real estate ads in the quarter. The year-ago period also was bolstered by ads related to the Olympics and political spots ahead of the national elections. USA Today registered an 8 percent decline in revenue.
Gannett owns 23 television stations and several radio stations along with its nearly 90 daily newspapers.
Ping
Gannett Q1 Earnings Slip
By E&P Staff
Published: April 19, 2007 10:10 AM ET
CHICAGO Gannett Co. reported Thursday its earnings per diluted share (EPS) in the first quarter fell to 90 cents from 99 cents on slipping revenue hit by weakness in newspaper advertising and a tougher comparable with the Olympics in the first quarter of 2006.
At the flagship USA Today, advertising revenues fell 7.9% compared to a year ago due in part to the lack of Olympic-related ads, Gannett said. Paid ad pages totaled 904 compared with 1,012 in the year-ago quarter.
Total Gannett operating revenues were $1.87 billion in the quarter compared to $1.88 billion a year ago. On a same-property basis, operating revenues would have been down 1.2%, Gannett said.
Operating cash flow also fell, to $471.6 million from $488.2 million a year ago.
Net income was $210.6 million in the first quarter of 2007 compared with $235.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
Operating expenses increased less than one percent to $1.47 billion, Gannett said, reflecting “continuing strong cost controls, a slight increase in newsprint expense, the impact of the television station acquisitions and a higher exchange rate for the British pound,” the company said.
Newspaper operating revenues totaled $1.69 billion for the first quarter, a 0.7 percent decline from 2006.
Total advertising revenues were down 1.9% to $1.24 billion for the quarter, while circulation revenue was flat at $324.0 million.
On a same-property basis, ad revenues would have been down 1.8%. On a comparable basis, Gannett said, local advertising revenues increased 0.6%, national advertising revenues fell 4.8%, and classified was off 3.0%.
Total newspaper operating expenses were flat for the quarter. Newsprint expense rose 0.2%, reflecting higher newsprint prices that were offset by substantially lower usage.
“Results for the quarter were in line with expectations,” Gannett Chairman, President and CEO Craig A. Dubow said in a statement. “On the positive side, our operations in the UK contributed to our results as did online revenue company wide. Our broadcasting segment posted positive revenue growth. The acquisition of the additional television stations in Denver and Atlanta, and strong results for Captivate and online, offset the absence of over $22 million of Olympic-related ad spending. However, advertising demand was tempered by severe weather, the absence of the final week in the calendar year, which was included in the first quarter of 2006, and the softening domestic real estate market.”
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Happy days are here again. But not for the liberals and RAT-party enablers.
Last line-excuse....Severe weather caused this.
Was that global warming producing.....winter???
I think Editor and Publisher needs an editor. They must mean first quarter 2007.
You are ABSOLUTELY dead-on. The quote is a load of bull SPECIFICALLY the supposed Real Estate ad downturn. Of all the advertisers whose knee-jerk reaction during a "downturn" is to cut ad spending, Real Estate agents and agencies actually crank up the adspending when things are not turning over as fast as they would like them to. Think about it....if the total market inventory is in surplus (compared to a few years ago)because properties are not moving as fast, Agents and agencies have more to show and NEED to get as much printspace as they can to compete and show all they are offering. The howler is that of ALL the professions save show business, Real Estate is more like a Personality Cult than any other single business sector. A third or MORE of the Real Estate ads feature JUST the Real Estate agents. These "Vanity" ads are on the Upswing! Granted, they do actually serve a purpose since more than a few prospective home sellers may be swayed by the Vanity ads when they choose a firm/person to represent them in their sale.
It is a TOTAL Newspaper adspace demand downturn you are seeing. Ad Buyers have had to get smarter (read "FRUGAL") in buying Newspaper adspace because instead of attracting more business by lowering page rates, the newspapers have RAISED rates to keep profits up. What sense does it make to be paying MORE to advertise in a medium that reaches less and less people?
To top that, they are claiming that due to the election cycle,they can't count on boosted revenue due to political ads? And this is something new? Really, now. The bulk of that money goes to TV anyway.
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