GateHouse Media loses more millions in second quarter 2009

Pulaski County Web ^ | 8/6/2009 | Darrell Todd Maurina

[darrellmaurina]

GateHouse Media, the owner of 89 daily newspapers including the Waynesville Daily Guide outside Fort Leonard Wood where I worked before I resigned to begin the Pulaski County Daily News, announced its second-quarter results with more millions of dollars in losses. I could say a lot about the decline of the traditional mainline media, but the numbers from their press release speak for themselves. GateHouse's CEO, Mike Reed, wrote this: "Our total revenue on a same-store basis declined 15.2% which was slightly better than the 16.3% decline we saw in the first quarter. We are somewhat encouraged that our classified revenue declines versus the prior year improved each month from a 38.8% decline in January to a 30.1% decline" in June. The "reported net loss was $496.5 million as compared to a $443.3 million net loss in the prior year. The net loss includes non-cash impairment charges of $481.4 million and $436.1 million, respectively." GateHouse was thrown off the New York Stock Exchange last year when the price dropped below $1 and couldn't get brought back up. The company went from $22 per share to $5 by the beginning of last summer, then went under $1 last fall and at one point was trading as low as 3 cents last December. The high stock price this year was 35 cents in May and it's currently trading at 25 cents.