Cox selling Palm Beach Post, Austin American-Statesman

[Fran Curci]

Gatehouse does not. The strategy of management is to pull as much cash as possible out as fast as possible before the presumed death of the property they control.

Lancey, that has also been my belief. But have they left some of the Florida properties somewhat intact, given the state of the business? I have heard that Sarasota, Gainesville, Jax, et al are not in horrible shape as far as personnel.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Lancey, that has also been my belief. But have they left some of the Florida properties somewhat intact, given the state of the business? I have heard that Sarasota, Gainesville, Jax, et al are not in horrible shape as far as personnel.

But the financials tell the story.

In the second quarter Gatehouse had revenues of 388.8 million. They were down 4.9% on a same store basis. The company said EBITDA was 49 million. They had interest expense of interest of nine million dollars and paid 22 million dollars in dividends. So that left 17 million. They had capital expenses of three million dollars which is not much for a company that size. That leaves about 15 million dollars that management left in the country. But revenues decline every year. So what happens next year? The company will have to cut some more because they have to pay the debt and they do not want to cut the dividend.

If management was interested in building up the newspaper business they would be investing more in the company and not pulling as much cash out.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Lancey, that has also been my belief. But have they left some of the Florida properties somewhat intact, given the state of the business? I have heard that Sarasota, Gainesville, Jax, et al are not in horrible shape as far as personnel.

According to this news reports JAX was down to 35-40 editorial staffers. I am not sure if the number reflects the June round of layoffs or not.

Florida Times-Union newsroom staff takes steps to form union | Jax Daily Record | Financial News & Daily Record - Jacksonville, Florida

 

[Fran Curci]

According to this news reports JAX was down to 35-40 editorial staffers. I am not sure if the number reflects the June round of layoffs or not.

Florida Times-Union newsroom staff takes steps to form union | Jax Daily Record | Financial News & Daily Record - Jacksonville, Florida

That's what I would fear.

 

[Fredrick]

But the financials tell the story.

In the second quarter Gatehouse had revenues of 388.8 million. They were down 4.9% on a same store basis. The company said EBITDA was 49 million. They had interest expense of interest of nine million dollars and paid 22 million dollars in dividends. So that left 17 million. They had capital expenses of three million dollars which is not much for a company that size. That leaves about 15 million dollars that management left in the country. But revenues decline every year. So what happens next year? The company will have to cut some more because they have to pay the debt and they do not want to cut the dividend.

If management was interested in building up the newspaper business they would be investing more in the company and not pulling as much cash out.

Forgive Fredrick for being very dumb. How does Gatehouse have revenues of almost $400 million? Are newspapers actually doing well? That's a lot of money.

 

[FileNotFound]

Forgive Fredrick for being very dumb. How does Gatehouse have revenues of almost $400 million? Are newspapers actually doing well? That's a lot of money.

Revenue isn't the number that matters. EBITDA is the number that matters. GateHouse owns 145 daily newspapers. The math suggests that not "a lot of money" at all.

 

[MeanGreenATO]

Statesman's publisher, editor-in-chief are both on the outs. Both of them took buyouts that were offered to the whole newsroom. Publisher, editor announce departures from Statesman

 

[Slacker]

Statesman's publisher, editor-in-chief are both on the outs. Both of them took buyouts that were offered to the whole newsroom. Publisher, editor announce departures from Statesman

Great paper, great people to work with.
What a shame to see Austin go under, too.

 

[Severian]

At least there's the Texas Tribune, also based in Austin, which, I hear, is thriving, especially with their coverage on the border crisis.

 

[SFIND]

Cox sells TV stations and other Ohio properties:

Cox Enterprises to sell majority stake in TV stations to Apollo