The Gannett Company, the largest newspaper publisher in the US, said on Friday that its second-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago, helped by a rebound in broadcast revenue, a one-time tax gain and a less severe drop in print advertising, the Associated Press (AP) has reported.
But revenue at the company, which publishes USA Today, and owns more than 80 other daily newspapers and 23 TV stations, fell more than was expected and its share price fell 11 per cent.
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As at other publishers, the rate of decline in the print ad business at Gannett has tapered off as the recession fades. At the same time, its TV stations have started to rebound, helped by an uptick in automotive advertising and ads tied to political campaigns.
Gannett has also cut expenses sharply through layoffs and consolidation of operations such as printing plants. Second-quarter expenses fell 12 per cent from a year earlier. That helped Gannett report net income of $195.5 million, or 81 cents a share, up from $70.5 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Gannett earned 61 cents a share. That was better than analysts’ forecast of 53 cents, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
Revenue in the period, which ended June 27, slipped 1.6 per cent, to $1.37 billion, from $1.39 billion a year earlier. It was the smallest decline in three years. A 20 per cent increase in broadcast revenue helped offset a 6 per cent decline in publishing. In the month of June, Gannett’s newspaper advertising was down by just under 4 percent, the least erosion in that category since early 2007.
