Gannett – the US publishing and broadcasting giant which owns UK regional press group Newsquest – has announced a sharp drop in profits in the third quarter.
Operating income for the 13 weeks to the end of September was down 32.5 per cent year-on-year to $158m on revenue down nine per cent to $1.63bn.
The news comes as Newsquest continues a programme of cost cutting with editorial redundancies at many of its UK titles.
Chairman Craig Dubow said: “While our results this quarter reflect the difficult and volatile economy both here and in the UK, they also highlight our determination to move forward with our strategic plan.
“Our positive online results confirm, for instance, the importance of digital to our plan going forward.”
The company revealed that income from Newsquest was hit by the weak pound.
Income from classified advertising at Newsquest was said to be down 27 per cent year-on-year in recent months.
At Gannett’s US flagship daily USA today advertising revenues were 7.1 percent down year on year in the third quarter.
The results announcement revealed that Newsquest’s network of websites attract 6.5 million unique users.
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