Gannett Co., Inc. Releases August Statistical Report
By Graphic Arts Online Staff -- Graphic Arts Online, September 17, 2008
MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 2008--Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) reported today that total pro forma operating revenues for the eighth period ended August 31, 2008 were 9.5 percent lower compared with the same period in 2007. For comparison purposes, the exchange rate of the British pound decreased compared to last year. If the exchange rate had remained constant year-over-year, total pro forma operating revenues would have declined 8.9 percent.
Publishing advertising revenues in August were down 16.8 percent compared with the same period a year ago. On a constant currency basis, publishing advertising revenues would have been 16.1 percent lower.
Retail advertising revenues declined 6.9 percent in the eighth period. In the U.S., across all products, softness in the furniture, telecommunications and home improvement categories led the decline.
Classified revenues were 28.0 percent lower in August. Real estate revenues were down 40.9 percent, employment revenues were 33.6 percent lower and automotive revenues declined 21.1 percent. On a constant currency basis, real estate revenues would have declined 39.9 percent, employment revenues would have been 32.5 percent lower and automotive revenues would have been down 20.1 percent. For U.S. community publishing, classified revenues were 25.8 percent lower in the eighth period comprised of declines of 32.0 percent in real estate revenues, 35.1 percent in employment revenues and 18.3 percent in automotive revenues. Classified revenues at our operations in the UK declined 30.4 percent, in pounds, reflecting declines of 53.6 percent in real estate, 27.2 percent in employment and 25.9 percent in automotive.
National advertising revenues in the eighth period were 13.3 percent lower. At USA TODAY, advertising revenues declined 13.5 percent on paid ad pages of 208 versus 236 last year. At USA TODAY, the telecommunications, advocacy and financial categories were positive in the eighth period while the automotive, technology, retail and home and building categories lagged last year.
Broadcasting revenues, which include Captivate, were 20.7 percent higher. Television revenues were up 21.6 percent in the period as local and national revenues advanced 14.2 percent and 36.0 percent, respectively. The growth was driven by almost $24 million in revenue related to the Olympics on our NBC affiliates and a $6.9 million increase in politically related ad demand. Based on where we are today, we would expect television revenues for the third quarter of 2008 to be up in the mid-single digits.
In addition to the revenue and statistical summary, attached is a chart which shows the consolidated Gannett Online audience share for August from Nielsen//Net Ratings. In August, Gannett's domestic Web sites had 26.8 million unique visitors reaching 16.1 percent of the Internet audience.
On September 3, 2008, Gannett acquired an additional 10 percent stake in CareerBuilder from Tribune Company. The acquisition gives the company a 50.8 percent controlling interest in CareerBuilder. CareerBuilder's results will be fully consolidated in Gannett's financial statements beginning in Period 9.
On July 8, 2008, Gannett acquired from Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company, in separate transactions, their minority ownership interests in ShopLocal LLC. Pro forma "Other revenue" reflects the results for ShopLocal for all periods presented.
To conform with current year presentation, the company's equity share of operating results for 2007 from its newspaper partnerships, including Tucson, which participates in a joint operating agency, the California Newspapers Partnership and the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership have been reclassified from "Other revenue" and are reflected in a separate line in the Non-Operating section of the Statement of Income titled "Equity income (losses) in unconsolidated investees, net." Other revenue is now comprised principally of commercial printing revenues and revenue from PointRoll and ShopLocal.
Circulation volume numbers for Newsquest's paid daily newspapers are included in the enclosed statistics, but volume from unpaid daily and non-daily publications is not included in the circulation volume statistics.
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 900 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 nearly 300 titles, including 17 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.
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2008 2007 CHANGE CHANGE
REVENUES:
Advertising:
Retail $ 145,268,000 $ 155,983,000 $ (10,715,000) (6.9)
National 44,140,000 50,907,000 (6,767,000) (13.3)
Classified 110,764,000 153,921,000 (43,157,000) (28.0)
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Total
Advertising $ 300,172,000 $ 360,811,000 $ (60,639,000) (16.8)
Circulation 92,111,000 95,305,000 (3,194,000) (3.4)
Other revenue 35,400,000 36,664,000 (1,264,000) (3.4)
Broadcasting 72,096,000 59,741,000 12,355,000 20.7
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Total
Revenue $ 499,779,000 $ 552,521,000 $ (52,742,000) (9.5)
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