PROVIDENCE – Gannett Co., parent company of The Providence Journal, among other local papers, lost $672.4 million in 2020, or $5.09 per diluted share, compared with a loss of $121.2 million one year prior, or $1.77 per diluted share, the company reported Thursday.
Company revenue totaled $3.4 billion, a rise from $1.9 billion one year prior. The company acquired Gannett in November 2019. Same-store pro-forma 2020 revenue declined 18.5% year over year.
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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.
“During a challenging 2020, we achieved strong operational execution, significant cost and debt reductions, improved operating trends and financial position, and we enter 2021 with good momentum, prepared to implement our subscription-led growth plan,” said Michael Reed, Gannett CEO and chairman. “We are making significant progress on our transition from a traditional media business to a digitally focused content platform, having already surpassed 1 million digital subscribers. We are committed to becoming a subscription-led business that drives audience growth and engagement by delivering deeper content experiences to our consumers and offering the products and marketing expertise our business partners desire.”
Fourth-quarter losses totaled $122.5 million, compared with $95.5 million one year prior. Quarterly revenue totaled $875.4 million, an increase from $699.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Pro forma quarterly revenue declined 16.3% year over year.
“We have outlined five key operating priorities: accelerating digital subscriber growth, driving digital marketing services growth, optimizing our traditional print operations and advertising businesses, prioritizing investments into growth businesses that support our vision, and building our inclusive and diverse culture. In 2021, you will hear us speak to these priorities regularly and share data points with you to track our progress,” said Reed. “We expect this strategy to create significant stockholder value in the coming years by driving increased revenues from digital products, bringing our company’s total revenue trend back toward growth, and allowing us to continue significant debt reduction.”
