DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Gannett Co. (GCI) projected third-quarter earnings well above
analysts' expectations as the nation's largest newspaper publisher
announced plans to sell $400 million in five- and eight-year notes
as it joins the raft of companies raising fresh capital to pay off
other debt.
Shares climbed 13.1% premarket to $11.29. The stock through
Monday was down 41% the past year.
Gannett projected earnings excluding restructuring charges of 39
cents to 42 cents a share on revenue of $1.31 to $1.32 billion. The
mean estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were for
earnings of 28 cents a share and revenue of $1.38 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore said publishing
advertising continued to improve, with the year-over-year decline
expected to improve from the one-third tumble seen in the first
half of 2009. Specifics for the third quarter weren't provided.
Meanwhile, Gannett is targeting payment on its revolving credit
line and a term loan with the capital raising. The company, which
has been hit hard by the advertising slump and chaos in the
newspaper industry, has worked to restructure its debt load, which
fell $200 million during the quarter to $3.31 billion. Gannett has
no debt maturities on the horizon for nearly two years.
In July, the publisher of USA Today, swung to a second-quarter
profit amid aggressive cost cuts, but operating results continued
to weaken sharply.
Gannett has been aggressively cutting costs in the past year or
so, and last summer unveiled plans to cut an additional 1,400 jobs
from its work force of 41,500. The company owns more than 80 daily
newspapers, including USA Today.
-By Mike Barris and Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires;
212-416-2330; mike.barris@dowjones.com