Gannett's pension plan owned 1,242,254 shares of GCI stock at the end of both 2008 and 2007 -- unfortunately.
The value of that stake plunged with the stock price in 2008, according to the company's latest annual pension report to the U.S. Labor Department; I got a copy yesterday, using the federal Freedom of Information Act. Those 1.2 million shares were worth $9.9 million at the end of 2008 vs. $48.4 million in 2007. That drop accounted for a slice of the more than $800 million in paper losses racked up by the plan in 2008, a year when overall stock markets cratered during the credit crisis.
Since then, of course, GCI has rebounded from that year's lows. Assuming the Gannett Retirement Plan still owns the same number of shares, they would now be worth $21.4 million, based on yesterday's closing price of $17.24.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
3 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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I asked Corporate for details about stock holdings in the pension plan back in the early 1990s, when I worked at The Idaho Statesman. Getting a response was like pulling teeth. All I received, as I recall, was a pie chart showing a breakdown of assets -- stocks, bonds, etc. -- but no information about individual holdings. I posted it on the bulletin board in the newsroom since, of course, I didn't blog back then.
ReplyDeleteWho is the fiduciary for Gannett's pension plans?
ReplyDeleteIf I understand your question correctly, the individuals with principal fiduciary responsibility ought to be Gannett's board of directors. There are trustees, such as banks, that hold the plan's investments, but I think those trustees act according to instructions from Corporate.
ReplyDelete