|
Newspapers' 2Q down
|
 |
July 17, 2001: 9:00 a.m. ET
Gannett, Knight-Ridder report lower earnings in weak ad market
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Two of the biggest U.S. newspaper publishers reported quarterly earnings Tuesday that sank under the weight of a sluggish advertising market.
Gannett Co. Inc., which publishes USA Today and 97 other newspapers, reported second-quarter earnings of $233.5 million, or 88 cents a share, down from $265.8 million, or $1 a share, a year earlier. The results matched Wall Street estimates, according to earnings tracker First Call.
Knight-Ridder Inc., which publishes the San Jose Mercury News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald and 29 other papers, reported second-quarter earnings of $131.1 million, or 71 cents a share, before one-time items. That was down from $179.7 million, or $1.02 a share, a year earlier. Wall Street analysts expected Knight-Ridder to earn 70 cents a share, according to First Call.
Knight-Ridder also said it is comfortable with a full-year earnings forecast of $3.28 a share. In the past several weeks, analysts have reduced their estimates to an average of $3.26, according to First Call.
The advertising market has been in decline during the U.S. economic slowdown this year, which has cut into newspaper publishers' bottom line, leading to thousands of job cuts. Knight-Ridder has cut 2,000 positions, or 9 percent of its work force, so far this year.
Click here for other publishing stocks
Knight Ridder chief executive officer Tony Ridder noted, however, that the worst may be over for the ad market. "With ad revenue down a steady (and not worsening) 8 percent to 9 percent in each month of the quarter, we may have seen the floor," he said.
Gannett (GCI: Research, Estimates) shares closed Monday up 33 cents at $67.83. Knight Ridder (KRI: Research, Estimates) shares closed Monday up 28 cents at $61.28. 
- from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
|
Knight Ridder
Gannett
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
