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Profile:  

 
Gannett Co., Inc.
7950 Jones Branch Drive
Mclean, VA 22107-0910
United States - Map
Phone: 703-854-6000
Fax: 703-364-0855
Web Site: http://www.gannett.com

DETAILS  
Index Membership: N/A
Sector: Services
Industry: Publishing - Newspapers
Full Time Employees: 41,500


BUSINESS SUMMARY  
Gannett Co., Inc. operates as a news and information company. It operates in three segments: Publishing, Digital, and Broadcasting. Publishing segment publishes daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines, and trade publications, as well as classified business Web sites. It offers 85 U.S. daily newspapers, including USA TODAY, and approximately 850 non-daily local publications in 31 states and Guam, as well as publishes 17 daily paid-for newspapers and approximately 200 weekly newspapers, magazines, and trade publications in the United Kingdom. This segment also engages in the commercial printing, newswire, and marketing and data services operations. Digital segment owns and operates CareerBuilder, an employment Web site, which offers job postings and related products to employers; provides multichannel shopping and advertising services connecting advertisers and consumers; and offers local online search and advertising technology. It also provides Internet technology that enables advertisers, agencies, and publishers to interact with consumers through online conversation; hosted search and advertising services; scheduling athletic solution that generates and updates school's schedules, scores, stats, and game directions; and social media services to advertisers and marketers. Broadcasting segment operates 23 television stations in the U.S. These stations operate Web sites offering news, entertainment, and advertising content in text and video format. This segment also includes Captivate Network, a national news and entertainment network that delivers programming and full-motion video advertising through video screens located in elevators of office towers and select hotel lobbies across North America. The company has strategic business relationships with online affiliates, including CareerBuilder; Classified Ventures; ShopLocal. com; Topix.net; and Metromix LLC. Gannett Co. was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

Gannett Shorts Get Squeezed?

The headlines haven't been printed, but expectations for newspaper publisher Gannett (GCI: 4.32*, +0.57, +15.19%) had investors anticipating bad news, making Monday's double-digit jump something of a surprise.

Shareholders of the country's largest newspaper publisher appear to be in the midst of a short squeeze after McLean, Va.-based Gannett last week was able to refinance $1 billion worth of debt at higher interest rates, but on a longer repayment schedule. Pessimists had earlier suggested the publisher of USA Today and dozens of other newspapers could face possible bankruptcy.

"It sort of takes away the drumbeat saying Gannett is going to get into financial trouble," says Edward Atorino, an analyst at Benchmark. He said Chicago-based Ariel Investments last week increased its stake from about 6% to 12%, adding that such a move could be making short sellers nervous.

About 30% of Gannett's stock is held short, according to the web site shortsqueeze.com, which means investors expect it to keep going down if they're going to profit. Unexpected good news, or, in Gannett's case, less bad news than expected, forces short sellers to buy shares and get out of their short positions, often as prices rise rapidly.

Atorino doesn't expect Gannett's troubles to disappear, adding that the entire newspaper industry remains hobbled by plunging ad revenues and declining readership.

"Gannett's first quarter," he says, "is going to be absolutely horrendous."