By: Gannett Co., the nation's leading newspaper publisher, on Wednesday predicted its full-year sales would fall about 8 percent, but its forecast was largely in line with analyst expectations.
Gracia Martore, the company's chief financial officer, said revenue for 2008 should be about $6.8 billion, down from $7.4 billion last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect sales of $6.86 billion.
At a UBS investors conference Wednesday, Martore said revenue in its publishing businesses stood to fall 18 percent during the last three months of the year, more than offsetting increases in its broadcast and online properties. Gannett's television stations got a boost from political advertising during the first part of the quarter.
She said the next few weeks would be crucial as consumers and advertisers decide how much they would spend this holiday season.
Martore also predicted Gannett would face a tough first quarter of 2009 because its results would be compared with the year-ago quarter, before the recession began to exascerbate an advertising market already suffering from the migration of readers to the Internet. Comparisons should get easier later in the year, she said.
Earlier, Chief Executive Craig Dubow said the McLean, Va.-based company was making significant progress boosting its digital initiatives despite the tough economy.
He said the standalone digital properties, such as the marketing and databases services company ShopLocal LLC, should generate nearly $700 million in revenue this year. Combined with the revenue from newspaper and broadcast Web sites, he said, the total should exceed $1 billion.
"Our digital segment is profitable," he told investors.
Shares of the company shed 6 cents to $8.30 in midday trading.
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