MCLEAN,VA.: Gannett shareholders today re-elected board members, who declared a quarterly dividend of 4 cents a share.
Chairman, President and CEO Craig A. Dubow, Howard D. Elias, Marjorie Magner, Scott K. McCune, Duncan M. McFarland, Donna E. Shalala, Neal Shapiro and Karen Hastie Williams to the board of directors at the annual meeting held at the company’s headquarters. Each received more than 95 percent of the votes cast.
The directors were elected to serve one-year terms ending at Gannett’s annual meeting in 2010. Gannett’s shareholders also ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young as the company’s independent accounting firm for the 2009 fiscal year.
The board also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 4 cents per share, payable July 1, 2009, to shareholders of record as of June 5, 2009.
Gannett’s 23 TV stations generated positive cash flow of $52.7 million in 1Q09. Revenue for the TV stations was $139.6 million, down nearly 15 percent. First-quarter revenues for the combined Gannett print and broadcast properties fell nearly 18 percent, from $1.68 billion last year to $1.38 billion this year. Net income was off by 60 percent, from $192 million last year to $77 million this year.
In early April, the company commenced a private exchange offer for $200 million in notes due in 2011 and 2012, for higher interest vehicles due four years out from each issue. The company’s share were trading at around $3.50 mid-day. -- Deborah D. McAdams
