GCI New Gannett Co Inc

Gannett Co. said its second-quarter earnings fell sharply, undercut by higher expenses, while revenue rose less than Wall Street was expecting.

Over all, advertising revenue edged down 0.2%--hurt by print advertising, though Gannett didn't specify by how much, as national digital advertising revenue rose 22%.

Gannett owns mostly small- and midmarket U.S. dailies in more than 30 states, as well as its flagship USA Today. Last summer, Gannett was spun off as a newspaper group from television properties that now comprise Tegna Inc.

Earlier this year, Gannett went public with its proposal to acquire Tribune Publishing Co., now rebranded as tronc Inc., in a deal valued at about $475 million. Tronc publishes titles such as the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. In the latest period, Gannett completed its acquisition of Journal Media Group, Inc.

The company's recent attempts to scoop up other publishing titles comes amid a flurry of deal making as the struggling newspaper industry increasingly consolidates.

Gannett said it expects revenue growth between 7% and 9% for the second half of 2016 and noted that margins would remain under pressure, particularly in the third quarter, hurt by recent acquisitions and the company's foreign-currency exposure in the U.K.

Over all, in the June quarter, Gannett reported a profit of $12.3 million, or 10 cents a share, down from $53.3 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding acquisition-related expenses, severance-related charges and other items, the company earned 30 cents a share compared to 47 cents a year ago.

Revenue rose 3% to $748.8 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 31 cents and revenue of $768 million.

In the latest quarter, amid the decline in ad revenue, circulation revenue rose 8.2%. Total operating expenses rose 6.9%.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2016 10:25 ET (14:25 GMT)

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