Speaking at the Sixth Annual Noble Equity Conference, top executives of Gannett Company indicated Monday that advertising is not only recovering, but coming back at a somewhat quicker pace than previously thought. The company has raised its estimate of revenue growth this quarter for its television stations group.
“We expect the percentage increase in television advertising revenues in the second quarter to be in the low twenties and digital revenues to be up in the mid-single digits,” said President and COO Gracia Martore. The company had previously indicated that TV would be up in the high teens to low 20s.
“In publishing, we continue to see improving trends and the percentage decrease in revenues is anticipated to be in the low-to-mid single digits,” Martore said. Regarding the company’s earnings per share for the second quarter, Martore noted that “most of the analysts’ earnings per share estimates are in a range of 47-58 cents and said the company is comfortable that earnings per share from continuing operations, excluding certain tax items, will be “toward the high end of that range.”
“Gannett today is an efficient, customer-focused enterprise. In our core media operations, we are engaging with more consumers than ever. We are delivering relevant content that they want on any platform they desire. At the same time, we have a robust, profitable and growing digital business tightly interwoven with our core operations. We continue to make fundamental changes to better align our core operations to the changing business environment,” Gannett Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow told the investor gathering in Hollywood, FL.
