More grim Gannett news for Asheville Citizen-Times folks

Here’s the latest from the AP. The bold portions are my doing:

NEW YORK (AP) — Gannett Co., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, said Friday that its third-quarter profits fell 32 percent as advertising revenue declined, and new job cuts are likely as a result.

With ad prospects continuing to look grim into next year, Gannett said it is exploring new job reductions by year’s end in its publishing, corporate and other divisions.

The third-quarter earnings are largely in line with Wall Street expectations after adjusting for severance costs from major job reductions.

The company’s net income was $158 million, or 69 cents a share, on revenue of $1.64 billion. A year ago, net income was $234 million, or $1.01 per share.

Revenue was higher than the $1.61 billion analysts predicted but 9 percent below last year. Excluding severance costs, Gannett would have earned 76 cents a share, a penny above what analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected.

As a bellwether, the publisher of USA Today isn’t immune from the revenue pressures on the industry. The migration of readers and advertisers started years ago. The weak economy compounded problems for newspapers as retailers, employers and real estate agents spend less on promotions and other advertising.

Earlier in the week, The McClatchy Co., The New York Times Co. and Journal Communications Inc. reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations after adjusting for one-time charges. But those companies also reported sharp declines in advertising; all but the Times saw September worse than August.

To offset revenue declines, Gannett announced some 1,100 job cuts this summer among its local newspapers. The McLean, Va.-based company took an after-tax charge of $14.4 million during the quarter for expected severance payments.

The company offered voluntary buyouts to about 30 corporate employees Thursday, on top of reductions of about 45 positions in that division earlier this year.