Gannett Executives Speak at Mid-Year Media Review
NEW YORK, NY – Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Craig Dubow and other Gannett executives today reported at the Mid-Year Media Review on the company’s strategic efforts and its performance to date in 2007.
“Gannett has made solid progress in transforming itself in a very short time. That is a difficult thing to do, and doubly hard in the face of softer regional economies in some of our markets,” Dubow said. “However, we believe the changing media landscape and new consumer behaviors are creating great opportunities. Gannett is clearly positioning itself to take full advantage of these opportunities.”
While key advertising segments, such as real estate and auto, remain soft, there are important positives as well, Dubow said. These include growth in our digital revenues; a firmer ad environment in the UK; and progress on several strategic initiatives that are showing strong results in their early stages.
Sue Clark-Johnson, president of the Newspaper Division, said the Information Center initiative, coupled with restructured advertising departments and sales training, is changing forever the way our community newspapers operate. “A direct reflection of the Information Center focus on local content is that we’re beginning to see improved reader satisfaction.”
Also, strong efforts to monetize the products produced by the Information Center are being enhanced by increased Web traffic. Niche sites, databases and video streams are seeing positive results, she said.
Craig Moon, president and publisher of USA TODAY, said the newspaper “is a true success story” as it approaches its 25th anniversary. It’s the largest newspaper in the country and has expanded to a number of platforms in the digital space, including the popular USATODAY.com with more than 11 million unique monthly visits, according to Hitwise.
While the second quarter rebounded from the first – just as it did last year, Moon said – the quarter will lag last year’s results. Softness in auto accounted for most of the shortfall, while travel, technology, telecommunications and retail are showing increases.
Softness in auto and retail also affected Broadcast, as well as significantly lower political revenues. However, digital, new business and Captivate were positives. Although we are well positioned in our markets, overcoming the absence of $77 million in political advertising in the second half of the year will be a challenge, Dubow said.
Gracia Martore, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said Newsquest registered 11 percent NIBT growth in pounds year-to-date and will continue to benefit from its restructuring efforts as key economic sectors stabilize.
Martore also said Gannett expected earnings per share for the second quarter of 2007 to be in line with the First Call consensus of estimates.
Speeches by the Gannett executives will be available by Webcast until July 20. The Webcast archive is accessible through www.midyearmediareview.com or through www.gannett.com.
Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 85 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns nearly 1,000 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes more than 300 titles, including 18 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 23 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.
Certain statements in this press release may be forward looking in nature or “forward looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward looking statements contained in this press release are subject to a number of risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual performance to differ materially from these forward looking statements. A number of those risks, trends and uncertainties are discussed in the company’s SEC reports, including the company’s annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important risk factors.
Gannett is not responsible for updating the information contained in this press release beyond the published date, or for changes made to this press release by wire services, Internet service providers or other media.
For investor inquiries, contact:
Jeff Heinz
Director, Investor Relations
(703) 854-6917
jheinz@gannett.com
For media inquiries, contact:
Tara Connell
Vice President of Corporate Communications
(703) 854-6049
tjconnel@gannett.com