Gannett earnings down in Q4 and 2011; CareerBuilder is revenue bright spot
Classified revenue continued to slide at Gannett during Q4 and all of last year, both in the U.S. and the U.K., but CareerBuilder provided a very bright spot for the company — so much so that CareerBuilder sales commissions and bonuses substantially increased expenses for the company.
Gannett reported earnings in 2011 of $1.89 per share or $459 million, down 22 percent from the $588 million reported in 2010. (The company reports on a 52-week basis.)
Quarterly income was 49 cents per share, or $117 million, down 32.8 percent from the 2010 Q4 totals.
Publishing operations in both the U.S. and the U.K., where Gannett operates the regional newspaper publisher Newsquest, showed substantial declines. Classifieds were off 8.4 percent year-over-year in the U.S. and 7.9 percent
at Newsquest. A chart in the earnings release shows specific category declines in each country.
The bright spot? CareerBuilder, and digital revenue in general.
Digital revenue in the quarter was up $181.5 million, or 9.4 percent, “due primarily to strong revenue growth at CareerBuilder.” Expenses soared by 10.6 percent, “reflecting significantly higher sales incentive and bonus costs associated with higher revenue levels for CareerBuilder.
“Due to substantially higher year-over-year revenue as the quarter progressed, a significant number of sales personnel exceeded their annual sales goals very late in the quarter, and were therefore entitled to incremental commissions and bonuses,” the company said in its earnings news release.
CareerBuilder releases its revenue figures after the Gannett quarterly release, so we’re trying to get those today and will report on them here.
Ferguson: False rumor about exit
Contrary to a rumor on a Gannett employees’ forum, CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson isn’t leaving his post. Who says so? Ferguson.
Our very own Sharon Hill’s eagle eye caught the tidbit on the forum, which was thrown into the middle of some other conversation. If it were true, that would have been a pretty significant story in the recruitment-advertising industry. Sharon was quick to contact CareerBuilder, which called the rumor false.
I reached out to Matt via e-mail. He replied via his iPhone: “Just incorrect rumors. Not sure how they started.”
Where’s that rumor? I’m not going to link to it and risk spreading it.
Gannett has nearly a 51 percent stake in CareerBuilder.
Classified revenue still bleak, some hope in recruitment
PointRoll, Oddcast add augmented reality to banner ads
Gannett-owned rich-media advertising company PointRoll and interactive-marketing company Oddcast have teamed to introduce augmented-reality marketing to online banner advertising. Continue reading
Gannett classifieds down on year; digital revenue up, lifted by CareerBuilder
Gannett Co. Inc. reported that classified revenues in the U.S. and U.K. fared better in the second quarter over the first quarter – but were down when compared to year-over figures. The bright spot: digital revenues, lifted in part by CareerBuilder, of which Gannett is majority owner.
Gannett reported that U.S. classified revenues declined 3 percent in Q2 2010, compared with the same quarter of 2009, while U.K. classified revenues were down 6.8 percent in the company’s Newsquest operations. Taken as an average, Gannett reported a year-over decline of 5 percent in classified revenues.
Breaking it down by segment, U.S. and U.K. automotive was up 2.5 percent for the quarter. Recruitment on the two continents was off 2.5 percent and real estate sank – down 10.5 percent from 2009, which back then was in the throes of recession. The company said the impact of the currency was partly to blame: automotive would have been up 3.1 percent; recruitment and real estate would have declined 1 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively.
All that said, U.S. and U.K. classifieds revenues were better than Q1 revenues by about 6 percent.
On the most positive note, Gannett’s digital segment — CareerBuilder, PointRoll, ShopLocal, Planet Discover, Schedule Star and Ripple6 – was up 8.3 percent on the year, to $154.1 million.
The company’s news release said the increase “reflects mid-single digit revenue growth at CareerBuilder; the first quarter of revenue growth at CareerBuilder since 2008’s fourth quarter.”
CareerBuilder’s North American network revenue in Q2 2010 was $139 million, up 5 percent from Q1 2010 and up 3 percent from Q2 2009, according to a CareerBuilder spokesperson.
Gannett also said PointRoll and ShopLocal reported “double-digit” growth.
Company-wide digital revenues were $252.2 million for the quarter, up 9.7 percent from Q2 2009 – and almost 19 percent of total operating revenues.
Gannett joins Yahoo local-ad network
Gannett is joining Yahoo’s family of media affiliates in an agreement that brings Gannett’s U.S. publishing, Web and broadcasting properties into Yahoo’s vast local-ad network.
As part of the agreement, all of Gannett’s 81 publishing titles, its websites and seven of its broadcasting sites will sell Yahoo inventory as part of their local advertising mix. As other media groups enjoy – Hearst, Media General, MediaNews, Cox, Belo Corp., Lee Enterprise and E.W. Scripps, among others — the deal gives Gannett’s local advertisers access to Yahoo’s APT ad-ordering capabilities, behaviorally and demographically targeted ads.
A news release from the two companies said the deal would “extend Gannett’s local media organization reach to cover as much as 80 percent of the total digital audience in each market.”
“This partnership builds on the strength of Gannett’s growing digital business and powerful local brands,” says Gracia Martore, president, COO and CFO of Gannett. “Working with Yahoo will allow us to offer targeted advertising messages with unmatched local audience reach.”
Gannett may also provide news and feature content across Yahoo properties. Rollout will begin in this quarter and continue into 2011.
“Local advertising continues to be an important area of focus for us, and Yahoo is committed to helping local businesses reach high quality target audiences,” said Hilary Schneider, EVP of Yahoo Americas. “This partnership significantly expands our local offering and gives advertisers the technology and scale they need to reach online consumers.”
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