While the fourth-quarter results of Gannett's (NYSE:GCI) wasn't unimpressive from a short-term point of view, it did nothing to alleviate the fact that the print industry remains under tremendous pressure.
Gannett's profit in the latest quarter increased by 30 percent. Normally that would be a huge win for most companies in most industries.
The problem for Gannett is the earnings and revenue came as a result of aggressive cost-cutting, as well as a big push from political advertising. Where do they, and others, go from here? Wait till the next political cycle?
And there are only so much you can cut before it is counterproductive. It's unclear if Gannett has reached that place yet, but it seems they are approaching it.
In the fourth quarter Gannett generated revenue of $1.46 billion, and earnings of $174 million, or 72 cents a share. That was up from $134 million, or 56 cents a share last year in the same quarter. That probably gives a look at their performance over the next year, although it will probably be less than that as the industry continues to shed newspaper subscribers.
Gannett did enjoy some digital revenue growth, increasing it to $166 million. That's close to about 11 percent of Gannett's revenue total.
Gannett closed Monday at $14.74, dropping $0.45, or 2.96 percent.
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