Gannet results bode well for two media

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Multimedia corporation Gannett suffered revenue reversals in Q1 2010, but they were not nearly as severe as they were the prior year, and were more than offset by decreased expenses, allowing the company to post a serious gain in net income. Television results were particularly encouraging.


In all, the company had a -4.1% loss in total revenue, to $1.3B, but the $1.1B it incurred in operating expenses was down from $1.2B the previous year, a decrease of 8.9%.

The company claimed an increase in operating income of 59.4% on the publishing side, to 165.6M, despite an 8% decrease in advertising revenue, again thanks to greatly reduced operating costs.

The television side enjoyed an operating revenue increase of 55.2% to $68.5M, and in its case, straight revenue was also in the black, to the tune of 16.7% on income of $167.5M, thanks in part to the Olympics. A busy 2010 political season is expected to keep the momentum going.

“We achieved very strong results for the quarter. All of our business segments delivered substantially higher operating income and operating cash flow in the quarter. We more than doubled adjusted net income despite lower revenues and reduced our debt by approximately $260 million in the quarter,” said Chairman/CEO Craig A. Dubow. “The momentum we had at the end of last year continued through the first quarter. Revenue trend comparisons improved in the quarter reflecting the positive impact healthier economies in the U.S. and the UK had on advertising demand as well as advertising revenue associated with the Winter Olympic Games. We also benefited from significantly lower costs due to greater efficiencies and substantially lower newsprint expense. We are well positioned for continued growth as the economy improves and we are extremely encouraged by the revenue trends and our ability to create and capture operating leverage.

He added, “Earlier this week, we were pleased to join eleven other major media companies in announcing plans to form a standalone joint venture to develop a new national mobile content and distribution service to make mobile digital television universally available to consumers.”