Thursday, March 24, 2011

Why Gannett is still burdened with $2.2B in debt

"We believe Gannett's stock is a terrific value and a very attractive investment."

-- CEO Craig Dubow in a July 25, 2006, statement announcing that, under his chairmanship, the board of directors had authorized Corporate to buy back an additional $1 billion worth of Gannett's stock. Shares closed that day at $52.57. By then, Corporate had already spent a substantial portion of the $1 billion earmarked for stock buybacks only a year before.

Ultimately, GCI blew $1.8 billion on buybacks in 2005-2008, paying an average $64 a share.

Today, COO Gracia Martore said in a statement that she expects GCI will finish the current quarter with $2.2 billion in debt, after paying down an additional $150 million. GCI closed today at $14.93.
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/24/2011 4:45 PM

    In other words, Gracia, it's time to get rid of more employees to pay down the debt???

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3/24/2011 6:41 PM

    No, she gets rid of employees to pad the bonuses. Silly minion...

    ReplyDelete

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