PROVIDENCE – Gannett Co., parent of The Providence Journal and other local papers, posted a $10.3 million profit in the first quarter of 2023. That compares with a loss of $3 million one year prior, the company reported Thursday.
Company revenue totaled $668.9 million for the quarter, a decline from $748 million one year prior.
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In February, Gannett reported a year-end loss of $78 million in 2022, or 57 cents per diluted share. The company had substantial losses in two quarters in 2022 – a $53.7 million loss in the second quarter and a $54.1 million loss in the third quarter, before posting a fourth-quarter profit of $32.8 million.
“Our first quarter results reflect a solid start to the year, despite facing what we believe will be the most challenging comparisons in 2023,” said Michael Reed, Gannett CEO and chairman. “We made significant progress across the majority of our key financial measures, and we believe our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the measures we implemented in the latter half of 2022 to position the company for long-term success.”
Total digital revenue declined 0.9%, to $247 million, year over year, while company’s same-store revenue declined 9.3%.
“We have created solid building blocks for 2023 and believe we are well-positioned to capitalize on this momentum,” Reed said. “We believe our trends are improving, our digital growth businesses remain strong, our first lien net leverage declined and is on track to achieve our year-end target of less than 2x, and we continue to optimize our capital structure.”
In Gannett’s Schedule 14A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 31, CEO Mike Reed saw a big pay cut in 2022 but still earned $3.38 million – 66 times higher than the $51,035 median salary received by Gannett employees.
On Aug 12, Gannett laid off more than 400 employees at several locations. Then companywide cost-cutting measures unveiled on Oct. 13 included five mandatory unpaid furlough days between Dec. 19-30, suspension of the company’s 401(k) match, voluntary severance package offers and an optional four-day workweek. It also announced a new round of staff reductions in December.
The number of job cuts was not specified. However, a Gannett executive told The Poynter Institute for Media Studies Inc. the company was targeting a 6% reduction, or about 200 of its 3,400 newsroom employees.
On Dec. 15, Lynne Sullivan was named regional executive editor of The Providence Journal and The Newport Daily News. She succeeded David Ng, who was laid off at the beginning of the month as part of Gannett’s job cuts.
On Feb. 3, Gannett announced that it used the proceeds from real estate sales totaling $21.3 million in January to reduce its first debt lien by $22.3 million.
The company owns and operates several papers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including The Providence Journal, The Taunton Gazette, The Newport Daily News, The Cape Cod Times, The Herald News in Fall River, The Worcester Telegram and The Standard-Times in New Bedford. Gannett also owns publications in nearly every state in the nation, as well as operations in the United Kingdom.
Gannett expects full-year revenue in the range of $2.75 billion to $2.8 billion.
