Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Gannett shares plunge nearly 6%, closing under $26
The number of shares traded totaled 7.9 million -- well more than double the 2.8 million daily average, Google Finance says. Shares sank to a $25.86 close, down $1.60, following yesterday's news of a Standard & Poor's debt watch, and Monday's weak first-quarter earnings. Indeed, GCI traded as low as $25.17 earlier today, before recovering. The steep drop comes one week before shareholders gather for their annual meeting at headquarters in McLean, Va.
15 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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While it splitting hairs, the debt watch came out early yesterday morning. The stock was down yesterday, too. The bigger drop today may have been a reaction to McClatchy's earnings (lack thereof). Bad news piling up on bad news.
ReplyDeleteIt's an investment stock based on earnings and profits. The golden goose has flown. Pruit and his gang is under $10 per share.
ReplyDelete5 to 1 that Dubow will resign by year end. SCJ will have the cocktails waiting in Reno.
Decidely going down the drain.
ReplyDeleteNo bodies left to cut...it gets even tougher from here on out. Now what? The editors will soon be stocking the toilet paper. Dubow with mop in hand.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. Bush says there is no recession.
Voluntary time off. How about half the year?
The majority of the post talk about Dubow and his crew being incompetent, which is true. But you have to look at some of these Publishers and managers running the individual papers, I have never seen so many incompetent people in management positions.
ReplyDeleteThe film, "Citizen McCaw" which "chronicles events since July 2006, when editor Jerry Roberts and five of his colleagues quit the Santa Barbara News-Press, citing owner and Co-publisher Wendy McCaw's abandonment of journalistic ethics, which McCaw denied. Since then, McCaw and dozens of her former staffers have been engaged in a fierce clash of wills that raises important national questions of journalistic ethics and media ownership," Is now showing at a limited venue near you. It is also available on DVD if you want to show it at your next beer and brats party.
ReplyDeleteCheck smartmoney.com website for the latest on Dubow and his fantasy predictions for Gannett and the industry. What ship is this guy on? The SS Golden Parachute?
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ReplyDeletethe publisher comment is a very good one and deserves more comment. nearly all of them were hired by glw and/or scj. Bad leaders make bad hires. our new pub in Westchester NY is a complete idiot. You can tell he used to work for Sue...buzz buzz and more buzz. A lot of words with little substance. He has a lot of peers that are very similar. It's the Gannett publisher model.
ReplyDeletehere, here to the talk a crazy publishers...I bet ours is crazier than yours...
ReplyDeleteIf the Az Republic newsroom hasn't been hit enough, word has spread that 62 staffers will be cut from the newsroom 6 from HR and 21 from Advertising. The remaining will be asked to take an 11% percent pay cut.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with the person who took a potshot at the Westchester publisher. On the contrary, he's a man of few words and a lot of substance. I've worked for Gannett for 15 years. I've had good bosses and bad ones. Mike is a good guy.
ReplyDeleteIf people are going to anonymously skewer their bosses on this blog, the least they can do is offer some specifics. At least that way we'd be able to decide if the anonymous critic has any clue what he or she is talking about.
Heck with picking on publishers, I want our Ad Director kicked out.
ReplyDeleteIt's the oddest thing, but when all the OUTSIDE sales people are sitting in the office talking to each other, sales just aren't there. To free up their talking time, we hire assistants to do their paperwork - and then my "overhead" department gets fewer FTE's 'cause revenue isn't there....
Oh wait, the revenue is there, because the AD is throwing up every neat idea he ever stole - no profit behind them because the ideas don't fit our market, ads are sold late, at a discount, and every other department has to run overtime to make the neat ideas happen.
Profit isn't REALLY important, is it? Just get that revenue number up... watch the stock soar.
At least in the wake of the Gandhi-is-gone-di debacle in Bridgewater and East Brunswick, we got a brilliant news guy with a good head for business, in that order. That scares us, because we want Hidlay to stay as permanent publisher, and GCI -- as noted here -- promotes bozos or loyal finance guys who work magic with the books.
ReplyDeleteThis is from the Gannett earnings transcript. Dubow says, that we will do the same things that you want us to do. CUT COSTS. There is nothing INNOVATIVE about that! Sounds like Martore is at it again! Who is running this company?
ReplyDelete"Meanwhile, in the midst of the transformation and the economy, we are continuing to manage the company in a way that you have come to expect from us. We are finding new ways to achieve efficiency and change our cost structure, in some cases through centralization and outsourcing."