Tony Ridder
Tony Ridder
ad clearly control cost early emphasis february focus growth margin paying quarter revenue seen since strongest
Ad revenue growth in February and March, boosted by the early Easter, was the strongest we have seen since the first quarter of 1998. Our focus on operations, with emphasis on cost control and margin improvement, is clearly paying off.
advertising beat cents consensus despite faced far flat
Despite flat revenue, we beat the Street's consensus (earnings forecast) by two cents and faced by far the stiffest advertising comparisons of the year.
advertising beat cents consensus despite faced far flat
Despite flat revenue, we beat the Street's consensus (earnings forecast) by 2 cents and faced by far the stiffest advertising comparisons of the year.
advantage business continue newspaper strong
The newspaper business is strong in most markets, and we continue to restructure culturally to take advantage of it,
ad month percent revenue seen steady
With ad revenue down a steady (and not worsening) 8 percent to 9 percent in each month of the quarter, we may have seen the floor.
across ad continue estate half industry months patterns quarter revenue second soft total
The quarter was challenging. With total ad revenue up only 1 percent, and with the persistence of the soft revenue patterns across the industry for many months now (employment and real estate excepted), we continue to look to the second half for improvement.
ad expect grew grow half rate revenue second
We expect ad revenue to grow in the second half at about the same rate that it grew in the first,
cities run
In all of the cities where we have newspapers, we run the business.
both company future online position print quarter steps strong took
While the fundamentals of this quarter were disappointing, we took important steps to position our company for a strong future in both print and online publishing, and our accomplishments were significant,
difficult disrupt greater knight lives people time trust whom worked
This is a difficult time in so many ways, but in no way greater than having to disrupt the lives and trust of Knight Ridder people with whom we have worked so closely. But I do feel we have no choice.
enhance including possible sale strategic
strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value, including the possible sale of the company.
dealing drummer
Dealing with a drummer isn't that much different from dealing with someone from IT.
delivered despite key management performance soft strong tight year
As promised, we delivered a very strong earnings-per-share (excluding nonrecurring items) performance in 1998. We did this in a year where not everything was going our way, which demonstrates our ability-and commitment-to tight management despite soft revenues in key markets.
both decided develop exit knight leave positive strategy
There were things Gannett wanted to do and things Knight Ridder wanted to do, ... We decided if we could develop an exit strategy that would leave us whole, it would be a positive thing for both parties.