Gannett shares lower as quarterly profit slides

Gannett shares were down sharply on Monday after the publisher of USA Today and other newspapers reported a steep fall in fourth-quarter net profit. Gannett shares were trading 7.10 percent lower at $14.14 at mid-day on Wall Street. The McLean, Virginia-based Gannett, the largest US newspaper chain, posted a net profit of $116.9 million, or 49 cents per share, in the fourth quarter compared to $174.1 million, or 72 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue fell 5.1 percent to $1.39 billion. Like other US newspapers, Gannett has been grappling with declining print advertising revenue, falling circulation and the migration of readers to free news online. Gannett publishes around 80 daily US newspapers and more than 600 magazines and non-dailies. It also has around two dozen US television stations. Its British operation, Newsquest, publishes newspapers, magazines and trade publications. Gannett said advertising revenue from publishing fell to $670.7 million in the quarter compared to $722.3 million a year ago. Advertising revenue was down 7.3 percent in the United States and 5.5 percent lower at Newsquest. Overall digital revenue rose 6.5 percent higher to $290.3 million due primarily to strong growth at job search site CareerBuilder, Gannett said. Broadcasting revenue fell to $199.8 million from $232.8 million in the fourth quarter due primarily to significantly lower political advertising compared to the same quarter a year ago.