Gannett Earnings Boosted By TV Stations

By: (AP) Gannett Co. Inc. posted a solid third-quarter gain on strong performances by its TV stations despite some continued softness in newspaper advertising revenues.

Net income for the three months ending Sept. 29 rose to $265.6 million, or 99 cents a share, compared with $174.8 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier. The year-ago figures do not reflect accounting changes adopted this year; if they did, the third-quarter 2001 results would have been $227.1 million, or 85 cents per share.

The earnings were in line with the forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

In morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the stock rose $2.19, or 3%, to $75.75.

Revenue for the quarter totaled nearly $1.6 billion, up 4.2% from $1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2001.

Douglas H. McCorkindale, chairman, president, and CEO, noted that "significant political advertising spending and an improved ad revenue environment for highly rated television stations" boosted performance in the company's broadcasting operations.

Although advertising revenues overall were also higher at the company's newspapers and declines in interest expense and newsprint costs helped lift net income during the quarter, the company's flagship paper, USA Today, continued to suffer from an industrywide advertising slump. For the quarter, its advertising revenues declined 7%. Year-to-date, the paper's advertising revenues decreased 9%, reflecting in part lowered demand for financial and technology-related ads.

For the nine months ending Sept. 29, the newspaper reported net income of $813.1 million, or $3.02 per share, compared with $582.8 million, or $2.19 per share. With the accounting change, the comparable 2001 figures would have been $741.4 million, or $2.78 per share.

Gannett publishes 95 daily newspapers in the United States, including USA Today, the largest-circulation daily. Gannett also owns more than 300 nondaily publications and a British company Newsquest that publishes more than 300 publications there, including 15 dailies. Gannett also owns 22 television stations.

On the Net: www.gannett.com