Gannett Executives Speak at Mid-Year Media Review
NEW YORK, NY – Executives of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) said at the Mid-Year Media Review today that the company is expecting the economy to continue grow in the second half of 2003, but the recovery will likely be gradual and uneven.
“The worst appears to be behind us,” said Douglas H. McCorkindale, chairman, president and CEO of Gannett.
McCorkindale noted that the company’s geographic and economic diversity has been an asset during the first half of the year. Specifically, he said, the operations in the UK have benefited Gannett’s results. “Newsquest’s margins are among the best in the UK newspaper industry.”
Gary Watson, president of the Newspaper Division, said the program to launch new products targeted to specific groups of advertisers and readers is in high gear. “In the past 12 months, we have added 220 new publications, weekly sections and ancillary advertising products. The products are driving gains in non-daily ad revenues.”
Craig Dubow, president and CEO of Gannett Broadcasting, said he is “cautious but optimistic about the second half.” He said the division’s quality initiatives continue to pay off. Gannett now has the top three stations in the country in late news and four stations ranked among the top 10.
Craig Moon, president and publisher of USA TODAY, pointed to the 2% circulation gain for the newspaper in the most recent Audit Bureau of Circulation numbers. Further, he said, USA TODAY is projecting a 1% revenue gain in the first half, despite the war and comparisons with last year’s Olympic advertising.
Gracia Martore, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said the company anticipates earnings per share to be in the $1.19 to $1.20 range, consistent with many of the current expectations, but cautioned that the next several days would be important.
Speeches by the Gannett executives will be available by Webcast until July 22. 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 100 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns in excess of 400 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 17 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 22 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.
Media contact:
Tara Connell
Vice President of Corporate Communications
Gannett Co., Inc.
(703) 854-6049
tjconnel@gannett.com