Publishing revenues down for News-Leader parent company

Only the broadcast portion of Gannett saw an improvement during the last quarter, according to a news release issued by the company Friday and filed with the SEC. The newspaper portion was up slightly in operating income, but that appeared to be entirely due to cutting jobs.

Overall, Gannett's bottom line improved slightly, likely due to political advertising. The state of the print portion of the company was described as follows:

Publishing segment reported operating income totaled $130.9 million. Operating income excluding special items was $140.4 million compared to $135.3 million in the third quarter last year reflecting moderating revenue declines relative to last year’s third quarter as well as the impact of cost control efforts and lower newsprint expense. Publishing segment operating cash flow on the same basis totaled $173.3 million.


Publishing segment operating revenues in the third quarter declined 4.8 percent to $969.4 million from $1.0 billion in last year’s third quarter. On a constant currency basis, publishing segment operating revenues would have been 3.9 percent lower. Reported advertising revenues in the quarter totaled $646.7 million, a decline of 5.1 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Advertising revenues were 3.8 percent lower on a constant currency basis as advertising revenues in the U.S. were 3.2 percent lower and declined 7.1 percent in pounds, at Newsquest. The decline in total advertising on a constant currency basis was better than both the second quarter year over year and two-year comparison. On the same constant currency basis, retail and classified advertising were slightly better while national improved 5 percentage points relative to second quarter comparisons.

Gannett publishes the Springfield News-Leader.