Martore still non-committal on more furloughs

[Still active? Employees launched this vacation site last year]

Following are quick headlines from Corporate's hour-long conference call today with Wall Street media stock analysts on this morning's fourth-quarter financials.

Furloughs: Newly named President and Chief Operating Officer Gracia Martore once more did not rule out another round of furloughs in the second quarter or later in the year. The company has already imposed one-week unpaid furloughs in the current quarter for most U.S. newspaper employees, plus workers in a few other divisions. "We'll just have to see how the economy is faring and how business conditions are,'' she said. Martore was similarly non-committal when she spoke with Wall Street analysts at the UBS conference in December.

Also, she noted that the company had saved $45 million in payroll expenses via furloughs in the first and second quarters last year. As it runs against those year-ago "comps,'' Corporate will be pressed to raise revenue even more during this year's first half -- or find other ways to cut costs.

Stock buybacks: Both Martore and CEO Craig Dubow said any cash would likely be spent on buying new businesses or further paying down debt, as the company did last year.

Dubow told the conference that he'll focus on mergers and acquisitions as he attends more to strategic planning, with Martore's promotion. "That's really the direction that we're focusing on," Dubow said.

Related: The conference call can be replayed on Corporate's website

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