By: Jennifer Saba After much speculation, the board of directors at Gannett decided to slash its dividend by 90% -- declaring a quarterly payment of 4 cents per share.
The last dividend Gannett issued was 40 cents per share.
In January, the publisher of USA Today indicated during a quarterly earnings call that the board was going to discuss the dividend during its meeting today. Virtually every public newspaper company, with the exception of The Washington Post, has suspended its dividend in order to preserve cash.
In a statement released at the close of markets this afternoon, Gannett Chairman, President and CEO Craig Dubow said, "Today's action by the board is another prudent response to the full-fledged recessions in the U.S. and the UK and the continuing difficulties in the credit markets."
The 90% cut will save Gannett more than $325 million annually, which the company plans to use to pay down debt.
"This dividend represents the 163rd consecutive dividend paid by the company since 1967," Dubow said.
In a related move, The New York Times Co. first reduced its dividend in November by 74% before suspending the payments altogether in February.
Shares of Gannett (NYSE: GCI) were off 8% or 33 cents closing at $3.75.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here