Gannett Earnings: Revenue Growth Drives Margin, Profit Pumps Up

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE:GCI) reported net income above Wall Street’s expectations for the second quarter. Gannett is an international news and information company operating mainly in the realms of publishing, digital and broadcasting.

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Gannett Co. Inc. Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for Gannett Co. Inc. rose to $133.1 million (56 cents per share) vs. $99.8 million ($41 per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This marks a rise of 33.4% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 3.4% to $1.31 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Gannett Co. Inc. beat the mean analyst estimate of 53 cents per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $1.32 billion.

Quoting Management: Gracia Martore, president and chief executive officer, said, “We are extremely pleased to report strong results and a return to revenue growth. We achieved record third quarter results in our Broadcasting segment. Our TV stations leveraged top 10 ratings positions and a more locally focused sales effort to generate substantially higher Olympic spending. Through strong ratings and a great footprint, they also maximized the opportunity to attract political spending. The early success of our new, all access content subscription model resulted in significant growth in company-wide circulation revenue, the first increase since early 2007. CareerBuilder once again delivered outstanding results that in turn enhanced Digital segment performance. Our digital strategies are working and company-wide digital revenue now represents more than 25 percent of total revenues. Finally, our continuing focus on creating efficiencies played an important role in delivering higher profitability and operating cash flow this quarter.”

Key Stats:

The company has now topped analyst estimates for the last four quarters. It beat the mark by 3 cents in the first quarter, by 3 cents in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, and by 3 cents in the third quarter of the last fiscal year.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly optimistic about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the third quarter has moved up from 80 cents a share to 81 cents over the last thirty days. The average estimate for the fiscal year has risen to $2.22 per share from $2.17 in the past month.

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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