Revenue from newspaper advertising is still shrinking at multimedia Gannett, but it did manage to increase its circulation numbers and its television assets were in the black despite being in the midst of an off-political year, producing flat revenues and a modest increase in earnings-per-share.
The $0.58 increase in non-GAAP EPS, taking into account special events, was 4% better than Q2 2012, and was based on total revenue of 1.3B. Net income was $113.6M – which increased to $135.1M non-GAAP, a 2% increase YOY.
Television revenue was up 3.2% to $212M, despite the absence of $10M in political during the same quarter a year prior. Core advertising was up 1.5%, and retransmission consent income was up a significant 62.3%.
The big news for the company, of course, is its proposal to acquire the television assets of Belo Corporation for about $2.2M in cash and debt assumption. The company announced that both boards have approved the deal and now they are awaiting regulatory approval.
President/CEO Gracia Martore stated, “We are very pleased to report solid revenue growth in our Broadcasting and Digital segments as well as our fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year circulation revenue growth overall in our Publishing segment. Earnings per share were higher in the quarter as our strategic initiatives, particularly our content subscription model and digital offerings, continued to gain momentum and positively impact our results. Our long-term strategic plan – with a focus on both investment and execution – continues to position us for success well into the future. Gannett’s pending acquisition of Belo, and finding new ways to get content and offerings to the right user at the right time, are steps in our long-term strategy. We are accelerating our transformation into the ‘New Gannett’ every day.”
