USA TODAY Co., Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2024
Filed with the SEC on Feb 20, 2025 and accepted by EDGAR at Feb 20, 2025, 15:09 ET.
Business
As filed, 57,343 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
Overview
Gannett Co., Inc. ("Gannett", "we", "us", "our", or the "Company") is a diversified media company with expansive reach at
the national and local level dedicated to empowering and enriching communities. We seek to inspire, inform, and connect
audiences as a sustainable, growth focused media and digital marketing solutions company. Through our trusted brands,
including the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations,
including our network of local properties, in the United States (the "U.S."), and Newsquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary
operating in the United Kingdom (the "U.K."), we provide essential journalism, local content, and digital experiences to
audiences and businesses. We deliver high-quality, trusted content with a commitment to balanced, unbiased journalism, where
and when consumers want to engage. We prioritize a digital-first strategy, focusing on audience growth and engagement while
diversifying revenue streams. Our digital marketing solutions brand, LocaliQ, supports small and medium-sized businesses
("SMBs") with innovative digital marketing products and solutions. Our mission remains to inspire, inform, and connect
communities while driving sustainable growth for our customers, advertisers, partners, and shareholders.
We report in three segments: Domestic Gannett Media, Newsquest and Digital Marketing Solutions ("DMS"). We also
have a Corporate and other category that includes activities not directly attributable to a specific reportable segment and
includes broad corporate functions, such as legal, human resources, accounting, analytics, finance, marketing and technology,
as well as other general business costs. A full description of our reportable segments is included in Note 14 — Segment
reporting in the notes to the Consolidated financial statements.
We have prioritized growing digital revenues by expanding our reach and engagement with customers across markets and
diversifying digital revenues through meaningful monetization streams. In 2024, total digital revenues, which includes Digital
advertising revenues, Digital marketing services revenues, Digital-only subscription revenues, and Other Digital revenues,
including digital content syndication, affiliate and content partnerships, and licensing revenues, grew to $1.1 billion, or 44% of
our total revenues. As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately two million paid digital-only subscriptions, which
outnumbered our print subscriptions. Our U.S. media network, which includes USA TODAY and our domestic network of local
properties, averaged approximately 140 million(a) unique visitors monthly during 2024 to our digital platforms. In the U.K.,
Newsquest is a publishing and digital leader with a network of websites that averaged approximately 53 million(b) unique
visitors monthly during 2024. In total, we averaged 193 million(a)(b) unique visitors across both the Domestic Gannett Media and
Newsquest segments during 2024.
We believe that a number of factors and industry trends have, and will continue to, present risks and challenges to our
business. For a detailed discussion of certain factors that could materially affect our business, results of operations and financial
condition, see "Item 1A — Risk Factors."
Strategy
We are committed to inspiring, informing and connecting audiences as a sustainable, growth-focused media and digital
marketing solutions company. Our strategy is rooted in three operating pillars: (i) expanding our reach and engagement, (ii)
diversifying our digital revenues, and (iii) strengthening our capital structure, all supported by what we believe is a stable and
increasingly agile foundation which we continue to optimize as the business and industry evolves. We believe our strategy will
allow us to continue our evolution to a sustainable, growth-focused media and digital marketing solutions company.
Foundation for ongoing growth
We continue to optimize and improve our infrastructure – through ongoing systems consolidations and migrations,
improving process workflows, leveraging evolving technology, and ensuring we have the synergy across the organization
expected to deliver the stabilization required to fuel our plan into the future. We also continue to invest in our people and in the
skills needed to support our future aims and to retain our talent by remaining an attractive place to work.
Three operating pillars
Expand reach and engagement with our customer segments
We believe that a key to our ongoing growth is expanding our base – including clients in our DMS segment and audience
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in our Domestic Gannett Media and Newsquest segments – and optimizing our revenue streams across this growing base.
As of December 31, 2024, we have built one of the largest digital audiences in the U.S. media sector, both locally and
nationally. For both the Domestic Gannett Media and Newsquest segments, we seek to continue to strengthen the connection
with our audience by providing relevant content and expanded offerings that resonate with our readers. We believe a scaled,
engaged audience is the catalyst for creating diversified, predictable, and repeatable digital revenues.
In our DMS segment, we seek to enhance our customer acquisition efforts by targeting client profiles and broadening our
product portfolio. By capitalizing on our domain expertise, we aim to grow our addressable market and provide comprehensive
solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients.
Diversify digital revenues
We expect to continue to expand the ways that we grow digital revenues through creating a diverse portfolio of meaningful
digital revenue streams and employing a holistic monetization strategy that maximizes revenue opportunities across the
spectrum and tailors such opportunities based on individual consumer habits.
Our strategy aims to allow us to more fully monetize the numerous visitors to our digital platforms, approximately 193
million(a)(b) unique monthly visitors during 2024, capitalizing on every interaction. Each interaction is an opportunity to present
a digital advertising offering, a digital-only subscription, an e-commerce opportunity, or to reach consumers more broadly who
access our content via our paid syndication partners. By optimizing our interactions with readers, we aim to fully leverage our
digital portfolio of products and maximize the overall revenue opportunity while providing each consumer with a meaningful
experience.
Likewise, our digital marketing solutions business is focused on optimizing and expanding our core digital marketing
services products and solutions while enhancing our portfolio with an Artificial Intelligence ("AI") powered software solution,
which we expect to increase our addressable market, improve retention, and increase Core platform revenues. Refer to "Key
Performance Indicators" below for further discussion of Core platform revenues.
Strengthen our capital structure
We remain focused on reducing debt, generating consistent cash flow, and creating flexibility to reinvest in growth
initiatives. We believe this disciplined approach supports our ability to innovate and adapt while ensuring long-term financial
health.
Domestic Gannett Media Segment
Our Domestic Gannett Media segment is comprised of USA TODAY, daily and weekly content brands in approximately
220 local U.S. markets across 43 states and our community events business, USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures. As of
December 31, 2024, we operated over 330 digital news and media brands across our portfolio.
Our core offerings include:
- Digital: digital-only subscriptions for local brands, USA TODAY, sports, and games. Subscribers also receive E-
Newspapers, offering digital replicas of print editions with additional features, such as article sharing and access to
archived editions; and
- Print: home delivery offered on a subscription basis ("home delivery"), single copy, and non-daily publications (i.e.,
shoppers and niche publications).
We aim to engage more than 130 million monthly digital and print consumers through evolving digital strategies, and
optimizing product types to balance consumer and advertiser needs. The number of products within each publication type shifts
regularly as we identify opportunities to best serve consumer and advertiser needs.
Approximately 85% of our daily media brands domestically have been published for more than 100 years. We believe the
longevity of our publications demonstrates the value and relevance of the local information we provide and has created a strong
foundation of reader loyalty and a highly-recognized media brand name in each community we serve. Our trusted brands, which
includes USA TODAY, are powered by an integrated and award-winning news organization, which as of December 31, 2024,
comprised of approximately 3,100 journalists with deep roots in approximately 220 local communities.
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The scale of our consumer audience across the Domestic Gannett Media segment, combined with a full funnel suite of
products, makes us an attractive marketing partner to various local and national businesses trying to reach consumers. We reach
1 in 2 adults(a) in the U.S., led by USA TODAY and amplified by local media brands within the USA TODAY NETWORK.
We are the leading news media publisher in the U.S. in terms of circulation and have the largest digital audience in the News
and Information category, excluding news aggregators, based on the December 2024 Comscore Media Metrix® Desktop +
Mobile. Per those metrics, our content reaches more people digitally than Fox News Media, CNN Network, New York Times
Digital, or WashingtonPost.com(a).
During 2024, our U.S. media network, which includes USA TODAY and our network of local properties, had a total digital
audience of approximately 140 million(a) monthly unique visitors, on average. In addition, during 2024, the combined average
daily print readership was approximately 2.6 million on Sunday and 2.3 million daily Monday through Saturday, primarily
driven by our domestic local property network and to a lesser extent, USA TODAY.
Domestic Gannett Media segment revenues
The Domestic Gannett Media segment primarily generates revenue through subscriptions to our print and digital products,
advertising augmented by full funnel solutions including digital marketing services, and, to a lesser extent, commercial printing
and distribution. The Domestic Gannett Media segment is focused on monetizing its digital audience, through multiple digital
revenue touchpoints, such as digital subscriptions, digital content syndication, affiliate and content partnerships, digital
advertising leveraging both first and third-party data, and new product offerings. We are focused on growing digital revenues
through a balanced, multi-point monetization strategy while maintaining a robust print base with subscription models and
innovative delivery methods, such as same day mail.
Our advertising teams employ a multi-product, platform, and location approach to advertising sales. With local market
teams, national and centralized sales, and self-service options, we aim to maximize the scale of our network. We offer a
comprehensive portfolio of print and digital advertising, including digital marketing services, tailored to meet the unique needs
of advertisers, from small local businesses to complex national brands. As advertisers navigate the challenges of managing
media budgets and reaching shifting audiences, we provide trusted expertise, access to wide ranging audiences, a nationally
scaled sales force, and targeted, integrated solutions. Our broad portfolio positions us to influence attitudes and behavior at
every stage of the purchase path.
Digital revenues
Digital revenues at the Domestic Gannett Media segment were $692.7 million in 2024 compared to $641.7 million in 2023,
which represented 36% of total Domestic Gannett Media segment revenues in 2024, up from 31% in 2023.
We track our Digital revenues in four main categories: digital advertising, digital marketing services, digital-only
subscription and digital other. Below are descriptions of these categories:
- Digital advertising offerings include direct sold display advertising and programmatic advertising that leverages both
first and third-party data delivered on either our digital products or off-platform as well as classified advertisements
such as auto, employment, real estate, legal, and obituary notifications, which may leverage third-party providers.
- Digital marketing services represent our integrated, proprietary marketing platform that helps local businesses build
their online presence through high conversion websites, drives awareness and leads through products such as search
engine marketing, manages and nurtures leads through our marketing automation platform, and measures which
activities are most effective. Our digital marketing services utilize digital inventory across a number of third-party
websites.
- Digital-only subscription offerings reflect the digital distribution of our publications.
- Digital other revenues are mainly derived from digital content syndication, affiliate and content partnerships and
licensing revenues.
Growing total digital revenues remains one of our top priorities, including a focus on growing paid digital-only
subscription revenues. We have focused our efforts on maximizing the total digital revenue of each unique visitor, employing a
holistic approach to monetization. As of December 31, 2024, our targeted subscription acquisition efforts resulted in
approximately 2.0 million paid digital-only subscriptions. We are focused on acquiring highly engaged, long-term, profitable
subscribers, as well as extending the subscribers lifetime value. As a result of this strategy, in 2024 we increased Digital-only
average revenue per user ("Digital-only ARPU") by 21.2% compared to 2023. Refer to "Key Performance Indicators" in
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" below for further discussion of
Digital-only ARPU.
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Print and commercial revenues
Print and commercial revenues at the Domestic Gannett Media segment were $1.2 billion in 2024, compared to $1.5 billion
in 2023, which represented 64% of total Domestic Gannett Media segment revenues in 2024, down from 69% in 2023, making
it our single largest revenue category in 2024.
We track our Print and commercial revenues in three primary categories: print advertising, print circulation, and
commercial and other. Below are descriptions of the categories:
- Print advertising is mainly derived from local and national advertising runs in our print products, such as our daily or
non-daily publications, and are either display advertising or preprinted inserts.
- Print circulation reflects the sale of both home delivery and single copy sales of our publications.
- Commercial and other reflects revenues generated from commercial printing and distribution arrangements, and
revenues from our events business.
Our all access content subscription model in our local markets includes a home delivered print product along with access to
our content via multiple digital platforms, with subscription prices varying by market, frequency, and product, among other
variables. As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately 1.0 million print subscribers.
In the U.S. local markets, print circulation revenue is largely subscription based, with approximately 85% of print
circulation revenues derived from home delivery subscriptions in 2024. In addition to the subscription model in our U.S. local
markets, single-copy print editions continue to be sold at retail outlets and accounted for approximately 9% of daily and 14% of
Sunday net paid circulation volume in 2024. Approximately 44% of the net paid circulation volumes of USA TODAY in 2024
was generated by single-copy sales at retail outlets, vending machines, or hotels that provide copies to their guests. Net paid
circulation volumes of USA TODAY also include home and office delivery, mail, educational, and other sales.
Events
USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures, our events and promotions business, diversifies the Company's media offerings by
connecting communities through impactful experiences. In 2024, USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures hosted a variety of in-
person and virtual events, attracting over 430 thousand attendees. Our portfolio includes home and garden shows, food and
wine festivals, high school sports recognition programs, including the USA TODAY High School Sports Awards, and major
events such as the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K, RAGBRAI, and Detroit Free Press Marathon.
USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures revenues are generated primarily through sponsorship sales, race registrations, and
ticket sales, which are reported in other revenues, and print and digital advertising and marketing revenues.
Production and Distribution
As of December 31, 2024, Gannett Publishing Services ("GPS") owned and/or operated 16 production facilities. By
clustering our production resources, utilizing excess capacity for commercial work, or outsourcing where cost-beneficial, we
seek to reduce the operating costs of our publications while enhancing the quality of our small and mid-size market
publications.
GPS leverages existing assets, including employee expertise, equipment, and distribution networks, to produce print
products for Gannett and third-party customers. We aim to continue to optimize our geographic footprint to efficiently produce
and transport printed products, with daily newspaper distribution generally outsourced to independent third-party distributors.
We continuously explore lower-cost delivery options.
We continue to refine our production and distribution methods. In 2024, we converted 55 publications to same-day mail
delivery via the U.S. Postal Service in certain markets where it is viable from a customer and financial perspective. Our goal is
to reliably deliver to the consumer, and in some cases, at lower costs, as well as eliminate unprofitable distribution routes where
possible. We intend to continue to explore mail delivery in 2025.
Competition
Our Domestic Gannett Media operations and affiliated digital platforms compete with other media and digital companies
for advertising and marketing spend. Additionally, we compete for circulation and readership against other news and
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information outlets and amateur content creators, some of which offer their content free of charge. Each of our publications
compete for advertising revenues to varying degrees with traditional media outlets such as direct mail, yellow pages, radio,
outdoor advertising, broadcast and cable television, magazines, local, regional and national newspapers, shoppers, and other
print and online media sources. We also increasingly compete with technology and social media companies, as well as
advertising networks and other programmatic buying channels for advertising revenues.
Development of opportunities in, and competition from, digital and social media platforms, including websites, mobile
applications, social products, and AI continues to increase. There is very little barrier to entry and often limited capital
requirements for new companies to enter the market with competitive digital products. Additionally, there are times when we
are not, or in the future we may not be, compensated for the use of our original content by third-party digital products and social
platforms, including AI-driven platforms.
We expect the Domestic Gannett Media segment to continue to protect its audience market share and to expand its
audience reach in the digital media industry through a focus on high quality content and journalism, internal audience
development efforts, content distribution programs, acquisitions, and partnerships. Additionally, we expect the Domestic
Gannett Media segment to continue to improve its suite of advertising and marketing services products through both internal
development and partnerships.
Joint Operating Agreement
Our Domestic Gannett Media subsidiary in Detroit, Michigan is party to a partnership which is subject to and operates
under a joint operating agreement ("JOA"). Under the JOA, the partnership performs the production, sales, distribution, and
back-office functions for our subsidiary and the publisher of another publication. The term of the Detroit JOA will end as of
December 31, 2025 unless the partners reach an agreement to continue. Operating results for the Detroit JOA are fully
consolidated along with a charge for the minority partner's share of profits. Effective June 30, 2024, York Dispatch Publishing
Company withdrew as a limited partner from the JOA in York, Pennsylvania. As a result, as of June 30, 2024, the Company no
longer pays a management fee associated with the York JOA.
Major Publications and Markets we Serve
The USA TODAY NETWORK operates as a network, leveraging integrated shared support for back-office operations such
as content design and layout services, print and digital creative development, certain sales and service platforms, technology,
data, and accounting and finance. We centrally manage production and distribution across our entire newsroom network to
maximize efficiency. We also leverage a single content management platform, allowing for content sharing across our portfolio
of brands. However, we believe that it is critically important that our U.S. local property network operate at the local level and
utilize the centralized infrastructure in a manner that maximizes each property's individual performance.
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The following table lists information for our major publications and their affiliated digital platforms within the listed
market in the U.S., as well as our national publication, USA TODAY, as of December 31, 2024.
| Location | Circulation Daily(1) | Sunday(1) | Digital-only(2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA TODAY | 99,974 | — | 402,948 |
| Detroit, MI | 25,743 | 62,461 | 119,433 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 39,841 | 58,738 | 71,923 |
| Milwaukee, WI | 26,004 | 44,539 | 55,068 |
| Indianapolis, IN | 18,187 | 26,618 | 48,714 |
| Cincinnati, OH | 17,637 | 27,248 | 34,430 |
| Columbus, OH | 15,231 | 23,207 | 39,852 |
| Des Moines, IA | 15,527 | 24,627 | 36,050 |
| Austin, TX | 11,513 | 16,319 | 40,401 |
| Palm Beach, FL | 16,837 | 20,607 | 27,723 |
| Louisville, KY | 15,270 | 21,844 | 25,272 |
| Nashville, TN | 11,853 | 17,182 | 31,544 |
| Rochester, NY | 15,113 | 23,066 | 20,142 |
| Providence, RI | 15,694 | 19,421 | 20,548 |
| Bergen County, NJ | 14,691 | 18,154 | 20,362 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 11,265 | 15,581 | 25,338 |
| Sarasota, FL | 14,187 | 16,945 | 20,214 |
| Akron, OH | 14,911 | 19,227 | 16,064 |
| Naples, FL | 11,721 | 13,582 | 21,479 |
| Asbury Park, NJ | 11,760 | 16,240 | 18,573 |
(1) Print volumes are based on reported copy sales per issue for the period January 2024 through December 2024.
(2) Digital-only reflects reported subscription volumes as of December 31, 2024.
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Newsquest Segment
Our Newsquest segment in the U.K. is comprised of over 210 digital news and media brands across our portfolio, including
over 150 daily and weekly newspapers and over 60 magazines as of December 31, 2024.
Our core offerings include:
- Digital: digital-only subscriptions for local brands, magazines, and sports verticals; and
- Print: single copy, home delivery, and non-daily publications (i.e., weekly news brands, shoppers and niche
publications).
Many of our publications are located in small and mid-size markets where we are often the primary provider of
comprehensive local community news and information. We reach a large, diverse audience through our print and digital daily
and non-daily publications throughout the U.K. As of December 31, 2024, our journalism network is powered by an integrated
and award-winning news organization comprised of approximately 500 journalists.
The scale of our consumer audience across the Newsquest segment, combined with a full funnel suite of products, makes
us an attractive marketing partner to various local and national businesses trying to reach consumers. In 2024, Newsquest had a
digital audience of approximately 53 million(b) monthly unique visitors, on average, with a total average print readership of
approximately 4.0 million every week.
Newsquest segment revenues
The Newsquest segment generates revenue primarily through advertising, single-copy sales and subscriptions to our print
and digital products, augmented by full funnel advertising solutions including digital marketing services, and, to a lesser extent,
commercial printing and distribution. The Newsquest segment is focused on monetizing its large organic audience of
approximately 53 million(b) monthly unique visitors, on average, through multiple digital revenue touchpoints, such as digital
subscriptions, affiliate and content partnerships, digital advertising leveraging both first and third-party data, new product
offerings, and sports verticals. We believe this strategic focus, coupled with our unwavering commitment to delivering
engaging and essential content, will enable us to better optimize our audience and accelerate our digital revenue growth.
Our advertising operations leverage a multi-faceted approach across products, platforms, and locations. We operate sales
teams in local markets as well as a national sales agency, in conjunction with self-service options, to maximize the scale of our
network. Our advertising teams sell a full portfolio of print and digital advertising, including digital marketing services. This
diverse set of products can be specifically tailored to the individual needs of advertisers from small, locally owned merchants to
large, complex national brands. Our comprehensive portfolio encompasses print and digital advertising, along with digital
marketing services, designed to serve a spectrum of clients, from small local businesses to complex national brands. As
advertisers face the challenges of managing media budgets and engaging evolving audiences, we provide trusted expertise,
access to wide ranging audiences, a nationally scaled sales force, and integrated, targeted solutions. This expansive portfolio
enables us to drive influence and impact consumer behavior throughout the entire purchase journey.
Digital revenues
Digital revenues at the Newsquest segment were $79.3 million in 2024 compared to $74.9 million in 2023, which
represented 33% of total Newsquest segment revenues in 2024, up from 32% in 2023.
We track our Digital revenues in four main categories: digital advertising, digital marketing services, digital-only
subscription and digital other. Below are descriptions of these categories:
- Digital advertising offerings include direct sold display advertising and programmatic advertising that leverages both
first and third-party data delivered on either our digital products or off-platform as well as classified advertisements
such as auto, employment, real estate, legal, and obituary notifications, which may leverage third party providers.
- Digital marketing services represent our integrated, proprietary marketing platform that helps local businesses build
their online presence through high conversion websites, drives awareness and leads through products such as search
engine optimization and marketing, manages and nurtures leads through our marketing automation platform, and
measures which activities are most effective. Our digital marketing services utilize digital inventory across a number
of third-party websites.
- Digital-only subscription offerings reflect the digital distribution of our publications.
- Digital other revenues are mainly derived from digital content syndication.
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Maximizing our digital revenues remains one of our top priorities as we aim to strike the optimal balance between digital
revenue categories. In 2024, our paid digital-only subscriptions grew approximately 33%, which we believe underscores the
value of our unique and essential content and reflects our ability to deliver experiences that resonate with our audience and
foster engagement. We are also focused on expanding our content offerings and enhancing our product suite to meet the needs
of our consumers and leverage our expansive organic audience. Refer to "Key Performance Indicators" below for further
discussion of digital-only subscriptions.
Print and commercial revenues
Print and commercial revenues at the Newsquest segment were $160.0 million in 2024 compared to $159.1 million in
2023, which comprised 67% of total Newsquest segment revenues, down from 68% in 2023.
We track our Print and commercial revenues in three primary categories: print advertising, print circulation and commercial
and other. Below are descriptions of the categories:
- Print advertising is mainly derived from local and national advertising runs in our print products, such as our daily or
non-daily publications, and are either display and classified advertising or preprinted inserts.
- Print circulation reflects the sale of both home delivery and single copy sales of our publications.
- Commercial and other reflects revenues generated from commercial printing and distribution arrangements.
Production and Distribution
As of December 31, 2024, the Newsquest segment owned and/or operated four production facilities. By clustering our
publication resources, utilizing excess capacity for commercial work, or outsourcing where cost-beneficial, we seek to reduce
the operating costs of our publications while increasing the quality of our small and mid-size market publications that would
typically not otherwise have access to high quality production facilities at competitive costs. We believe we are able to reduce
future capital expenditure needs by having fewer overall pressrooms and buildings.
The Newsquest segment operates its publishing activities in a similar manner to GPS (as described in the Domestic Gannett
Media segment discussion above), through regional and central teams to maximize the use of management, finance, printing,
and personnel resources. This approach allows the business to leverage a variety of back-office and administrative activities to
optimize financial results and enables Newsquest to offer readers and advertisers a range of attractive products across the
market.
Competition
Our Newsquest segment operations and affiliated digital platforms compete with other media and digital companies for
advertising and marketing spend. Our operations also compete for circulation and readership against other news and
information outlets and amateur content creators, some of which offer their content free of charge. Each of our publications
compete for advertising revenues to varying degrees with traditional media outlets such as direct mail, radio, outdoor
advertising, broadcast and cable television, magazines, local, regional and national newspapers, and other print and online
media sources, including local blogs. We also compete with digital and social media companies, as well as advertising networks
and other programmatic buying channels for advertising revenues.
Development of opportunities in, and competition from, digital and social media, including websites, mobile applications,
and social products continues to increase. There is very little barrier to entry and often limited capital requirements for new
companies to enter the market with competitive digital products. Additionally, there are times when we are not, or in the future
we may not be, compensated for the use of our original content by third-party digital products and social platforms.
The Newsquest segment expects to continue to protect its audience market share and to expand its audience reach in the
digital media industry through a focus on high quality content and journalism, internal audience development efforts, content
distribution programs, acquisitions, and partnerships. Additionally, the Newsquest segment expects to continue to improve its
suite of advertising and marketing services products through both internal development and partnerships.
Circulation
The Newsquest segment has a portfolio of over 150 news and media brands and over 60 magazines, published in print and
online in the U.K., with a digital audience in 2024 averaging approximately 53 million(b) monthly unique visitors and
approximately 4.0 million total weekly average print readers. In addition to local news brands, the Newsquest segment owns the
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digital businesses s1jobs and s1Homes, Exchange & Mart, and a specialist magazine business.
The following table presents information for our major local media organizations and affiliated digital platforms operated
by our Newsquest segment in the U.K. as of December 31, 2024:
DAILY PAID-FOR LOCAL MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS AND AFFILIATED DIGITAL PLATFORMS / NEWSQUEST
| Title | Location | Circulation Monday - Saturday(1) | Digital-only(2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basildon & Southend Echo | Basildon, Southend on Sea | 7,003 | 1,720 |
| Bournemouth - The Daily Echo | Bournemouth | 4,895 | 5,272 |
| Bradford Telegraph & Argus | Bradford | 3,875 | 2,783 |
| Colchester Daily Gazette | Colchester | 3,237 | 879 |
| Dorset Echo | Dorset | 3,781 | 1,713 |
| East Anglian Daily Times | Ipswich | 6,078 | 3,910 |
| Eastern Daily Press | Norwich | 12,036 | 4,579 |
| Glasgow - Evening Times | Glasgow | 4,903 | 821 |
| Greenock Telegraph | Greenock | 4,114 | 1,531 |
| Ipswich Star | Ipswich | 2,423 | 1,101 |
| Lancashire Telegraph | Blackburn, Burnley | 2,760 | 1,761 |
| News & Star | Carlisle | 1,737 | 1,500 |
| Norwich Evening News | Norwich | 2,627 | 1,088 |
| Oxford Mail | Oxford | 3,836 | 2,859 |
| South Wales Argus - Newport | Newport | 3,283 | 2,085 |
| Southampton - Southern Daily Echo | Southampton | 5,561 | 3,827 |
| Swindon Advertiser | Swindon | 3,513 | 2,307 |
| The Argus Brighton | Brighton | 3,654 | 2,475 |
| The Bolton News | Bolton | 3,469 | 2,420 |
| The Herald, Scotland | Glasgow, Edinburgh | 9,943 | 10,554 |
| The Leader | Wrexham | 2,765 | 686 |
| The Mail | Cumbria | 2,046 | 943 |
| The National, Scotland | Glasgow, Edinburgh | 2,567 | 8,151 |
| The Northern Echo | Darlington | 7,739 | 2,659 |
| The Press - York | York | 4,679 | 2,066 |
| Worcester News | Worcester | 2,492 | 1,325 |
(1) Print volumes are based on reported copy sales per issue for the period January 2024 through December 2024.
(2) Digital-only reflects reported subscription volumes as of December 31, 2024.
Digital Marketing Solutions Segment
Our DMS segment, operating under the brand LocaliQ, provides digital advertising and marketing products and solutions
to help local businesses succeed. Its cloud-based platform offers a suite of products and solutions for marketing automation, AI-
driven advertising optimization, and customizable reporting. LocaliQ helps businesses build online presence, drive consumer
awareness, manage leads, and measure marketing performance across multiple channels. The platform is an all-in-one suite of
products and solutions that delivers relevant marketing messages to local consumers, helps optimize marketing budgets, and
provides actionable insights to advertisers. In 2024, LocaliQ launched Customer Center powered by Dash®, an AI-powered
platform, which provides AI-generated call attributes, AI-assisted call details, and a customer interaction activity feed with AI-
generated insights.
We believe we have an advantage successfully reaching the SMBs given our scaled sales force, long-standing involvement
in and knowledge of the communities in which we operate, and vast data accumulated through decades of campaign
management. We believe we offer a lower cost of acquisition for our customers based on our extensive data and experience in
optimizing campaigns. We also believe we have the technology, the experience, and the relationships to provide best-in-class
metrics.
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We believe the DMS segment provides a scalable business model due to its consistent customer budget retention rates,
averaging 96% in 2024. In addition, we believe that ongoing investment in product and marketing, combined with sales channel
expansion, are critical to growing the number of core platform customers. As of December 31, 2024, our core platform average
customer count was approximately 14,300 at our DMS segment. Refer to "Key Performance Indicators" below for further
discussion of core platform average customer count.
DMS Digital marketing services revenues are subject to moderate seasonality due primarily to fluctuations in marketing
budgets for seasonal businesses. We believe the diversification of the product suite will, over time, reduce the impact from
seasonal fluctuations.
Products
Digital marketing requires a holistic view of how online presence, advertising and conversion efforts work together to
achieve results. Our products and solutions work across the USA TODAY NETWORK and major online platforms such as
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yelp, Snap, and others. Our products and solutions portfolio offers a simple all-in-one platform
powered by AI and service experts that grows and adapts with the needs of local business owners. For example, some
businesses might need to significantly improve their websites and focus on converting sales leads, while others may need to
focus on building awareness of their business and driving more leads to their site and social pages. LocaliQ identifies the
biggest opportunities and provides solutions by recommending the right mix of product platform features and measuring results.
Our products and solutions focus on three key categories local businesses need to manage in order to grow:
- Get Found: Listings, websites and landing pages, search engine optimization and social media marketing.
- Scaling Their Business: Search engine marketing, display ads, video ads, social ads, targeted email marketing, and
custom promotions. Search engine marketing, which is recorded as Digital marketing services revenues, accounted for
68% of our DMS segment's total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2024.
- Converting and Keeping Customers: Customer Center powered by Dash® and chat.
Distribution
We deliver our suite of products and solutions to local businesses through a combination of our proprietary technology
platform, our sales force, and select third-party agencies and resellers. Our DMS segment has sales operations in the U.S.,
Canada, New Zealand, Australia, India and the U.K. During 2024, approximately 95% of our DMS segment revenues were
generated in North America and the remaining 5% from other international markets. All DMS segment revenues are digital
revenues.
Competition
The market for local online advertising solutions is intensely competitive and rapidly changing. The market is highly
fragmented as there are a number of smaller companies which provide digital marketing services at highly competitive prices
and, increasingly, we compete with SMB marketing providers who offer solutions tailored for specific verticals. In addition, the
online publishers that we utilize for clients, such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, generally offer their products and
services through self-service platforms. Many traditional offline media companies also offer online advertising solutions and
have large, direct sales forces and digital publishing properties. Further, a proliferation of marketing automation tools continues
to commoditize the DMS environment while actions from major technology companies have caused challenges to advertising
agencies.
Government Regulation
We are subject to a variety of laws, rules, and regulations in numerous jurisdictions within the U.S. and in each of the
countries where we conduct business. These laws, rules, and regulations cover several diverse areas, including environmental
matters, employee health and safety, data and privacy protection, consumer protection and anti-trust provisions. These U.S.
federal, state, and foreign laws and regulations, which in some cases can be enforced by private parties in addition to
government entities, are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change. For example, many jurisdictions have
enacted or are considering enacting privacy or data protection laws and regulations that apply to the processing or protection of
personal information as well as laws and regulations governing the use of artificial intelligence. Data and privacy protection
laws, rules and regulations are applicable to our businesses and the compliance costs and operational burdens imposed by these
laws and regulations could be significant. As a result of the often rapidly evolving changes, the application, interpretation, and
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enforcement of these and other applicable laws and regulations are often uncertain and may be interpreted and applied
inconsistently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and inconsistently with our current policies and practices. We are committed to
conducting our business in accordance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
Environmental Regulation
We are committed to its strategy of protecting the environment. Our goal is to ensure our production and distribution
facilities comply with applicable federal, state, local, and foreign environmental laws and to incorporate appropriate
environmental practices and standards in our operations. We believe we are one of the industry leaders in the use of recycled
newsprint. During 2024, 12% of our domestic newsprint purchases contained recycled content, with average recycled content of
22%.
Our operations use inks, solvents, and fuels. The use, management, and disposal of certain of these substances are regulated
by environmental agencies. In addition, there is increasing attention in the U.S. and worldwide concerning the issue of climate
change and the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. We believe that understanding and managing greenhouse gas emissions are
important to effectively mitigate our impact to the environment. See "Climate Change" below.
We retain a corporate environmental legal consultant who, along with internal and outside counsel, provides advice on
regulatory compliance and preventive measures. We believe we are in substantial compliance with all applicable laws and
regulations for the protection of the environment and the health and safety of our employees based upon existing facts presently
known to us. Compliance with applicable federal, state, local, and foreign environmental laws and regulations relating to the
discharge of substances into the environment, the disposal of hazardous wastes, and other related activities has had, and will
continue to have, an impact on our operations but has been accomplished to date without having a material adverse effect on
our operations. While it is difficult to estimate the timing and ultimate costs to be incurred due to uncertainties about the status
of laws, regulations, and technology, based on information currently known to us and insurance procured with respect to certain
environmental matters, we do not expect environmental costs or contingencies to be material or to have a material adverse
effect on our financial performance. Our operations involve risks in these areas, however, and we cannot provide assurance that
we will not incur material costs or liabilities in the future which could adversely affect us. See also "Item 1A — Risk Factors"
in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Raw Materials
Newsprint, which is the basic raw material used in our print publications, has been and may continue to be subject to
significant price changes from time to time. During 2024, we purchased newsprint as well as other specialty paper grades from
14 domestic and global suppliers. Our total consumption was approximately 96,000 metric tons in 2024, a decrease of 16%
from 2023, which included consumption by our owned and operated print sites, third-party printing sites, and Newsquest, and
includes consumption for Gannett products as well as products printed commercially for third-parties. Newsprint capacity
reductions through the closure of mills or the conversion of paper machines to other products or grades of paper has reduced the
number of newsprint suppliers over the years. North American suppliers are becoming a larger share of the global market and
domestic and global supply are susceptible to supply chain disruptions and pricing volatility tied to economic and geopolitical
factors. The availability and price of newsprint is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which are described more fully
under "Item 1A — Risk Factors" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Macroeconomic Environment
We are exposed to certain risks and uncertainties caused by factors beyond our control, including economic and political
instability and other geopolitical events. We believe that these uncertain economic conditions have adversely impacted and may
continue to have an adverse impact on our revenues, and the occurrence of these factors has resulted in a reduction in demand
for our print and digital advertising, reduced the rates for our advertising, and caused marketers to shift, reduce or stop spend.
We are exposed to potential increases in interest rates associated with our new $900.0 million five-year first lien term loan
facility, which as of December 31, 2024, accounted for approximately 76% of our outstanding debt, as well as fluctuations in
foreign currency exchange rates, primarily related to our operations in the U.K. We expect continued uncertainty and volatility
in the U.S. and global economies which will continue to impact our business. See "Item 1A — Risk Factors" in this Annual
Report on Form 10-K.
Seasonality
We experience seasonality in our revenues. The Domestic Gannett Media segment typically witnesses the greatest impact
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from seasonality in the third quarter, primarily attributed to reduced population in seasonal markets and decreased holiday
related spending. The DMS segment generally experiences the greatest impact from seasonality in the first half of the fiscal
year, which can be attributed to the advertising needs of specific verticals, which are generally lower in the first half of the year.
Human Capital Resources
We believe our employees are our greatest asset and the foundation of our business is the people and employees who make
our day-to-day operations possible. Having and fostering a broad range of experiences, opinions and perspectives are core to
our shared values and form the critical pillars of how we deliver value to our customers and communities.
Enabling a positive employee experience, remains a top priority at Gannett. Aligned to our purpose, we endeavor to
provide engaging work and foster a learning culture that supports our employees' ability to reach their goals and continue to
develop new skills and capabilities. We invest in management development to enable strong team-based connections and to
support effective manager to employee dialogue. Culture building is a priority on a local, divisional and enterprise level. Our
efforts include supporting volunteer participation in our employee resource groups, with thirteen active employee resource
groups operating in the Company as of December 31, 2024. Volunteer employee resource group leaders set annual goals
utilizing a strategic "4c" model, where Career, Culture, Company, and Community objectives are set and used to determine
topics for programming and live discussions, as well as track progress and successes. Our programming and consistent
communication across our entire workforce includes intersectional employee resource group events, monthly Town Hall
meetings with our Chief Executive Officer and senior leadership, and many communication channels, including, as an example,
our bi-monthly Focused Leader guide, and our monthly Together employee newsletter, which shares strategies on topics such
as hybrid working, staying socially and professionally connected, and highlighting individual employee career progression
stories.
Throughout the year we engage employees through lifecycle milestones to maintain a clear pulse on the employee
experience. Annually, the performance review process begins with goal setting and includes structure for regular manager
feedback and coaching. We incorporate individual development plans to assist with the career growth of our employees. During
2024, there was an added focus each month on enabling management effectiveness by sharing specific programs, tools, forums,
and communications for people managers. We also have implemented a Company-wide mentor platform that allows for
targeted mentor/mentee cohorts to further enable career elevation progress.
As of December 31, 2024, we employed approximately 8,900 employees in the U.S., of which approximately 17% were
represented by labor unions, most of which were affiliated with one of seven international unions. As of December 31, 2024,
there were approximately 2,800 employees outside of the U.S., including approximately 1,900 employed by Newsquest in the
U.K. Our U.K. subsidiaries bargain with two unions over working practices, wages, and health and safety issues. Most of our
unionized employees work under collective bargaining agreements. As of December 31, 2024, there were approximately 66
existing collective bargaining agreements and five bargaining units negotiating initial contracts. While we have experienced
isolated work stoppages from time to time, we believe relations with our employees are generally good.
Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") Initiatives
As a leading media organization, our longstanding corporate social responsibility position is driven by our deep
commitment to our communities. We are dedicated to ensuring that we have mindful and ethical business practices that
positively impact our world. In early 2024, we published our 2024 ESG Report detailing the progress we made on our U.N.
Sustainable Development Goals ("U.N. SDGs") that include Reduced Inequalities, Climate Action, and Peace, Justice, and
Strong Institutions. The 2024 ESG Report highlighted several key achievements, such as improvements to our workplace
diversity, further reductions in our total paper consumption, and the successful completion of our inaugural climate disclosure
project questionnaires for climate change and forests.
Gannett is committed to ensuring our coverage is widely available, actively promoted across our media sites and marketed
to our millions of registered users. In January 2025, we published our network-wide 2024 Journalism Impact Report, which
highlighted what we believe are the most influential articles we produced in 2024 and covers topics such as coverage on
inclusion, diversity and equity as well as climate change. The Company is committed to the ongoing publishing of an annual
network-wide Journalism Impact Report, which surfaces the top stories we produced that led to action.
Climate Change
Essential to Gannett's mission of empowering communities to thrive are the pillars that make up our corporate social
responsibility platform. As part of our commitment to social responsibility, Gannett strives to minimize its environmental
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impact through sustainable business practices for sourcing, consumption, and waste. We have taken a number of steps within
the organization in an effort to reduce our use of water, to recover and recycle electricity and fossil fuels when possible, and to
pursue green energy options where available. We continue to reduce the number of presses in operation by consolidating print
operations and by significantly reducing the square footage of our office space through consolidation of offices, in many cases,
to more energy efficient spaces. We also strive to incorporate sustainability throughout our supply usage and supply chain.
We invested in a best-in-class carbon accounting software and partnered with Green Impact to implement this software and
enhance our ability to capture emissions data on an expanded number of assets and scopes. To build upon our progress in
measuring and tracking our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, we have plans to expand into Scope 3 categories. Gannett recognizes that
if we are to contribute towards achieving net zero, we need to establish our full carbon footprint baseline, implementing
reduction strategies along our journey.
Gannett continues to harness employee enthusiasm through Sustainability Forward, which is an employee resource group
focused on bringing together a community of employees who are passionate about ESG topics. Sustainability Forward aims to
align initiatives and efforts that support Gannett’s commitment to sustainability, climate, people, and communities with a
mission to contribute to a better, more inclusive, and equitable planet. In 2024, the group hosted monthly meetings, community
initiatives, and company-wide events and training geared toward education, climate change solutions, traditions and investing in
companies dedicated to saving our planet. With consistent growth throughout the year, the Sustainability Forward employee
resource group ended 2024 with approximately 150 employees across the Company.
Gannett is committed to continuing to include more detailed articles to provide broader context to news in health,
environment and science and include in-depth analyses that explore questions of how and why health and climate trends matter
to our readers. In 2024, Gannett’s U.S. National Climate Change Cross team published over 10,600 stories, newsletters or major
projects about climate change and the environment. Additionally, the USA TODAY NETWORK publishes a weekly
newsletter, Climate Point, that curates content about the environment, sustainability, and climate change from across the
network for a national audience, helping readers make better informed decisions for themselves, their families, and their
communities.
Corporate Governance and Public Information
The address of Gannett's website is www.gannett.com (http://www.gannett.com). Stockholders can access a wide variety of information on Gannett's
website, under the "Investor Relations" tab, including corporate governance information, news releases, Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings, and information Gannett is required to post online pursuant to applicable SEC and New
York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") rules. Gannett makes available via its website all filings it makes under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K, as well as any related amendments as soon as
reasonably practicable after they are filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. All such filings are available free of charge. The
content of, or information available on, Gannett's website and any other website referred to in this report are not a part of, and
are not incorporated by reference into, this report unless expressly noted otherwise.
Use of Website to Distribute Material Company Information
The Company's website address is www.gannett.com (http://www.gannett.com). The Company uses its website as a channel of distribution for
important company information and we use the investors.gannett.com website as a means of disclosing material non-public
information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Important information, including press
releases, analyst and other presentations, transcripts, and financial information regarding the Company, is routinely posted on
and accessible on the Investor Relations and News and Events subpages of its website, which are accessible by clicking on the
tab labeled "Investor Relations" and "News and Events", respectively, on the website home page. The Company also uses its
website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the Company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a
press release or a filing with the SEC disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the Investor
Relations, and News and Events subpages of the Company's website for important and time-critical information. Visitors to the
Company's website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is
made available on the Company's website.
The contents of our websites are not intended to be incorporated by reference into this Annual Report or in any other report
or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.
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References
(a) 2024 Comscore Inc., US Multi-Platform, Desktop 2+ and Total Mobile 18+, December 2023-December 2024
(b) Newsquest used Adobe Analytics to identify unique visitors between January 2024 and December 2024
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Risk factors
As filed, 114,842 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
You should carefully consider the following risks and other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K in evaluating
us and our common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the "Common Stock"). Any of the following risks could materially and
adversely affect our results of operations, our financial condition, and the market price of our Common Stock. Although the risk
factors are grouped by general category, many of the risks described in a given category relate to multiple categories.
Risk Factor Summary
The following is a summary of some of the risks and uncertainties that could materially adversely affect our business,
financial condition, and results of operations, which are discussed in more detail below:
- We operate in a highly competitive business environment, and our success depends on our ability to compete effectively,
including through the implementation of our strategic initiatives and development of new and enhanced products and
services.
- Our indebtedness could materially and adversely affect our business or financial condition.
- Certain actions, including our ability to incur additional indebtedness, require the consent of our lenders and note holders
which, if not provided, would limit our ability to take advantage of future opportunities.
- The majority of our indebtedness is held by one creditor, who may have interests that diverge from our interests and the
interests of our stockholders.
- If we are unable to raise funds necessary to repurchase the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes upon a fundamental change as
described in the 2027 Notes Indenture and the 2031 Notes Indenture, there may be defaults under such indentures and
under agreements governing our existing or future indebtedness. In addition, a change of control may constitute a default
under the 2029 Term Loan Facility, the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes.
- Our strategy of growing our paid digital-only subscriber base may negatively impact advertising revenues in the near term.
- We may be unsuccessful in our efforts to execute our digital revenue strategy and optimize our revenue streams.
- Our DMS segment utilizes online media acquired from third parties and our business could be materially adversely affected
if these companies take actions that are adverse to our interests or otherwise restrict our ability to do business.
- Any required changes in practices and techniques to enhance the customer experience, including for enhanced data privacy,
could materially and adversely impact our advertising revenues and business results, and impair our ability to acquire
consumers efficiently.
- Volatility in the U.S. and global economies, macroeconomic events, market disruptions, changes in the U.S. or
international political environment, and other events outside of our control, have had, and may in the future have, a
material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
- Our ability to generate revenues is highly sensitive to the strength of the local economies in which we operate and the
demographics of the local communities that we serve.
- The collectability of accounts receivable under adverse economic conditions could deteriorate to a greater extent than
provided for in our financial statements and in our projections of future results.
- Evolving regulatory matters may impact our business.
- If our reputation or brand is damaged, our ability to grow our user base, advertiser relationships, and partnerships may be
impaired, and our business may be harmed.
- Our financial results are subject to risks associated with our international operations.
- Foreign exchange variability could materially and adversely affect our consolidated operating results.
- Domestic and/or foreign jurisdictions may enact gross receipts taxes on our digital services which, if we are required to
pay, could materially adversely affect our cash flows and financial condition.
- Foreign jurisdictions in which we operate may enact rules to address the tax challenges of the digitization of the global
economy, such as those from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which could have a material
adverse impact on our consolidated financial statements.
- Our possession and use of personal information and the use of payment cards by our customers and users present risks and
expenses that could harm our business. Unauthorized access to or disclosure or manipulation of such data, whether through
breach of our, or our third-party service providers', network security or otherwise, could expose us to liabilities and costly
litigation and damage our reputation.
- We regularly face risks related to cybersecurity incidents and threats, including attempts by malicious actors, which may be
external or internal threat actors, to breach our security and compromise our information technology systems.
- Privacy and security-related laws and other data security requirements are constantly evolving and may increase our
compliance costs and potential for liability, either of which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
and results of operations.
- We use AI and may use other new technologies in our business. Challenges with properly managing their use by us or third
parties could result in reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability, and adversely affect our results of
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operations.
- Defects, delays, or interruptions in the cloud-based hosting services we utilize, both directly and indirectly, could adversely
affect our systems, reputation and operating results.
- Any significant increase in newsprint costs or disruptions in our newsprint supply chain, including as a result of
manufacturing facility closures and on-going capacity shifts between newsprint and specialty paper grades, transportation
and other issues that are challenging supplier deliveries, increased demand, and inflationary pressures, may materially and
adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
- The value of our goodwill and intangible assets may become impaired, which could materially and adversely affect future
reported results of operations.
- We may not be able to protect intellectual property rights upon which our business relies and, if we lose intellectual
property protection, our assets may lose value.
- We are subject to environmental and employee safety and health laws and regulations that could cause us to incur
significant compliance expenditures and liabilities.
- We may not be able to generate future taxable income which may prevent our realization of deferred tax assets or require
us to establish additional valuation allowances which could materially and adversely affect future reported results of
operations.
- We are required to use a portion of our cash flows to make contributions to our pension and postretirement plans, which
diverts cash flow from operations, and the amount of required future contributions may be difficult to estimate.
- The loss of the services of any of our key personnel, reduced staffing levels, or our inability to attract qualified personnel in
the future may materially and adversely affect our ability to operate or grow our business effectively.
- We rely on equity-based compensation to attract, retain, and motivate our key employees, which may result in price
pressures on our Common Stock, stockholder dilution and increased usage of shares under our equity incentive plan during
periods in which our stock price is depressed. Our ability to continue a competitive long-term equity-based incentive
program required to attract and retain talent may be hindered, and alternative incentive models may cause our cash flows to
be reduced.
- A shortage of skilled or experienced employees with the capabilities necessary to support our business strategies, or our
inability to retain such employees, could pose a risk to achieving our business objectives, which could materially adversely
affect our business and profitability.
- A number of our employees are unionized, and our business and results of operations could be materially adversely
affected if current or additional labor negotiations or contracts were to further restrict our ability to maximize the efficiency
of our operations.
- FIG LLC (the "Former Manager") is not liable to us for certain acts or omissions performed in accordance with, and prior
to the termination of, our former management agreement (the "Former Management Agreement"), and for certain matters
in connection with the termination of our relationship with the Former Manager, and we may incur liability for such acts or
omissions.
- Our stock price is subject to volatility and there can be no assurance that the market for our stock will provide adequate
liquidity.
- Sales or issuances of shares of our Common Stock, including upon conversion of the 2027 Notes and/or the 2031 Notes,
could materially adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
- We presently have no intention to declare or pay a dividend, the terms of our indebtedness restrict our ability to pay
dividends, and we may not be able to pay dividends in the future or at all.
- The percentage ownership of our existing stockholders may be diluted in the future, including upon conversion of the 2027
Notes and/or the 2031 Notes, and holders of the 2031 Notes may possess significant voting power following conversion of
the 2031 Notes.
- An "ownership change" could limit our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes, which
could result in our payment of income taxes earlier than if we were able to fully utilize our net operating loss and other tax
benefit carryforwards.
- Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws and of Delaware law
may prevent or delay an acquisition of the Company, which could decrease the trading price of our Common Stock.
- Our ability to compete may be materially and adversely affected if adequate capital is not available. In addition, future
offerings of debt securities, which would rank senior to our Common Stock upon our liquidation, and future offerings of
equity securities, which may be senior to our Common Stock for the purposes of dividend and liquidating distributions,
may be dilutive and materially and adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
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Risks Related to Competition
We operate in a highly competitive business environment, and our success depends on our ability to compete effectively,
including through the implementation of our strategic initiatives and development of new and enhanced products and
services.
We face significant competition from other providers of news, information, and entertainment services, including both
traditional and other providers, some of which provide their products free of charge. This competition continues to intensify as
a result of changes in technologies, platforms and business models and corresponding changes in consumer and customer
behavior, and we may be adversely affected if consumers or customers migrate to other alternatives. In addition, to be
successful, we must provide the type and quality of content our consumers desire. The number of choices available to
consumers for content consumption has increased and may adversely impact demand for, and the price consumers are willing to
pay for our products and services. Consumption of our content on third-party delivery platforms may also lead to loss of
distribution and pricing control, loss of a direct relationship with consumers and lower engagement and subscription rates.
Further, news and subscription fatigue among consumers has become more widespread and could continue to grow. These
trends and developments have adversely affected, and may continue to adversely affect, our circulation and subscription
revenue and advertisers' willingness to purchase advertising from us, as well as increase subscriber acquisition, retention, and
other costs.
Technological developments have in some cases also increased competition by lowering barriers to entry. Other digital
platforms and technologies, such as user-generated content platforms and self-publishing tools, have reduced the effort and
expense of producing and distributing certain types of content on a wide scale, allowing digital-only content providers,
customers, suppliers and other third parties to compete with us, often at a lower cost. Additional digital distribution channels,
such as digital marketplaces, have presented, and may continue to present, challenges to our business models, which could
adversely affect our sales volume and pricing.
In addition, the competitive landscape may shift if other industry players adopt AI more swiftly. The use of AI may also
affect the discoverability and presentation of our content and consequently our ability to monetize our digital audiences.
Furthermore, ethical concerns and public sentiment regarding AI could have reputational implications. See also the risk factor
below under the heading "We use AI and may use other new technologies in our business. Challenges with properly managing
their use by us or third parties could result in reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability, and adversely affect our
results of operations."
In order to compete effectively, we must differentiate and distinguish our brands and our products and services, respond to
and develop new technologies, distribution channels and platforms, products and services, and anticipate and consistently
respond to changes in consumer and customer needs, preferences and behaviors. For example, we rely on brand awareness,
reputation and acceptance of our content and other products and services in order to retain and grow our consumers and
subscribers. However, consumer preferences change frequently and are difficult to predict, and when faced with a multitude of
choices, consumers may place greater value on the convenience and price of products and services than they do on their source,
quality, or reliability. Online traffic and product and service purchases are also driven by internet search results, referrals from
social media and other platforms and visibility on digital marketplace platforms and in mobile app stores. Search engine results
and digital marketplace and mobile app store rankings are based on algorithms that are changed frequently, and social media
and other platforms may also vary their emphasis on what content to highlight for users. Use of AI in search engines could
result in decreased viewership and engagement with our media content. Any failure to successfully manage and adapt to these
changes across our businesses, including those affecting how our content, apps, products, and services are discovered,
prioritized, displayed, and monetized, could impede our ability to compete effectively by significantly decreasing traffic to our
offerings, lowering advertiser interest in those offerings, increasing costs if free traffic is replaced with paid traffic and lowering
advertising revenue and subscriptions. A loss in the expected popularity or discoverability of our content or other products and
services could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
We expect to continue to pursue new strategic initiatives and develop new and enhanced products and services in order to
remain competitive. We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant costs in order to implement our strategies
and develop new products and services, as well as other costs to acquire, develop, adopt, upgrade and exploit new and existing
technologies and attract and retain employees with the necessary knowledge and skills to support our priorities. There can be no
assurance any of our strategic initiatives, products or services will be successful in the manner or time period or at the cost we
expect or that we will realize the anticipated benefits we expect to achieve. The failure to realize those benefits could have a
material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Some of our current and potential competitors may have fewer regulatory burdens, better competitive positions in certain
areas, greater access to sources of content, data, technology or other services or strategic relationships or easier access to
financing, which may allow them to respond more effectively to changes in technology, consumer and customer needs,
preferences and behavior and market conditions. Continued consolidation among competitors in certain industries in which we
operate may increase these advantages, including through greater scale, financial leverage, or access to content, data,
technology and other offerings. If we are unable to compete successfully against existing or future competitors, our business,
results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
Our indebtedness could materially and adversely affect our business or financial condition.
Our indebtedness, incurred from time to time, could have significant consequences on our future operations, including
making it more difficult for us to satisfy our debt obligations and our other ongoing business obligations, which may result in
defaults, and limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, and increasing our vulnerability to, changes in our business, the
industries in which we operate, and the overall economy. As of December 31, 2024, our outstanding indebtedness included (i)
$850.0 million of term loans under a $900.0 million five-year first lien term loan facility (the "2029 Term Loan Facility"), (ii)
$38.1 million of 6.000% Senior Secured Convertible Notes due 2027 ("2027 Notes"), and (iii) $223.7 million of 6.000% Senior
Secured Convertible Notes due 2031 ("2031 Notes"). In addition, as of such date, $49.6 million of term loans was available to
be borrowed on a delayed-draw basis.
All obligations under the 2029 Term Loan Facility, the 2027 Notes and the 2031 Notes are secured by all or substantially
all of our assets and all or substantially all of the assets of our wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries. We may incur additional
indebtedness in the future.
The 2029 Term Loan Facility matures on October 15, 2029, and bears interest, at Gannett Holdings LLC's option, at either
the Adjusted Term Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("Adjusted Term SOFR") (which shall not be less than 1.50% per
annum) plus a margin equal to 5.00% per annum or an alternate base rate (which shall not be less than 2.50% per annum) plus a
margin equal to 4.00% per annum. The 2027 Notes and the 2031 Notes each bear interest at a rate of 6.00% per annum.
Accordingly, we are required to dedicate a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to fund interest payments. The 2029
Term Loan Facility is amortized at a rate of $17.0 million per quarter, with such rate to be adjusted upon the borrowing of any
delayed-draw term loans to the extent necessary to cause such delayed-draw term loans to be fungible with the initial term loans
under the 2029 Term Loan Facility. In addition, we are required to repay the 2029 Term Loan Facility from time to time with
(i) the proceeds of non-ordinary course asset sales and casualty and condemnation events, (ii) the proceeds of indebtedness that
is not otherwise permitted under the 2029 Term Loan Facility and (iii) the aggregate amount of cash and cash equivalents on
hand at the Company and our restricted subsidiaries in excess of $100.0 million as of the last day of any fiscal year of the
Company (beginning with the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024). Our debt service obligations reduce the amount of cash
flow available to fund our working capital, capital expenditures, investments and potential distributions to stockholders.
Moreover, there can be no assurance that we will be able to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy our debt service obligations.
Our ability to satisfy our debt service obligations depends on our ability to generate cash flow from operations, which is subject
to a variety of risks, including general economic conditions and the strength of our competitors, which are outside our control.
The terms of our indebtedness impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us. The 2029 Term Loan Facility
and the 2031 Notes require us to comply with numerous affirmative and negative covenants, including a requirement to
maintain minimum liquidity of $30.0 million at the end of each fiscal quarter, and restrictions limiting our ability to, among
other things, incur additional indebtedness, make investments and acquisitions, pay certain dividends, sell assets, merge, incur
certain liens, enter into agreements with our affiliates, change our business, engage in sale/leaseback transactions, and modify
our organizational documents. These requirements may make it impractical to declare and pay dividends at any time that the
requirements are in effect. See also "Risks Related to our Common Stock" below.
A failure to satisfy our debt service obligations on the 2029 Term Loan Facility, a breach of a covenant in the 2029 Term
Loan Facility, or a material breach of a representation or warranty in the 2029 Term Loan Facility, among other events
specified in the 2029 Term Loan Facility, could give rise to a default, which could give our lenders the right to declare our
indebtedness, together with accrued interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable. A failure to satisfy our debt
service or conversion obligations on the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes, among other events specified in the indenture governing
the 2027 Notes (the "2027 Notes Indenture") or the indenture governing the 2031 Notes (the "2031 Notes Indenture"), could
also give rise to a default, which could give rise to the right of noteholders to declare the principal of the 2027 Notes and/or the
2031 Notes, together with accrued and unpaid interest, to be immediately due and payable. A default under the 2029 Term Loan
Facility or any of our indentures could also lead to a default under the other agreements governing our existing or future
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indebtedness (including the 2029 Term Loan Facility or any of our indentures, as the case may be). An acceleration of our
indebtedness would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and
stock price.
Certain actions, including our ability to incur additional indebtedness, require the consent of our lenders and note
holders which, if not provided, would limit our ability to take advantage of future opportunities.
Our agreements relating to our indebtedness, including the 2029 Term Loan Facility and the 2031 Notes, contain
restrictions and covenants that limit our ability to take certain actions without requisite lender approval, approval of the holders
of a majority in principal amount of the notes then outstanding, or modification of the loan agreements, as applicable. These
limitations include restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness or refinance our existing debt, make certain
investments and acquisitions, pay certain dividends, sell assets, merge, incur certain liens, enter into agreements with our
affiliates, change our business, engage in sale/leaseback transactions, and modify our organizational documents. There is no
assurance that our debtholders will approve or consent to our activities, even if the activities are in the best interests of our
stockholders. If we are unable to secure the required consent of our lenders or noteholders, our ability to take advantage of
future opportunities, including acquisition or financing opportunities, could be restricted.
The majority of our indebtedness is held by one creditor, who may have interests that diverge from our interests and the
interests of our stockholders.
A majority of our outstanding indebtedness is held by entities controlled, managed or advised by a large financial sponsor.
We have historically relied on this financial sponsor with respect to a significant portion of our financing and credit needs. In
the event that this sponsor is unable or unwilling to extend us credit, we may not be able to obtain financing on terms as
favorable to us as those under current arrangements. As a result, we may face less available capital and be subject to more
stringent covenants and higher borrowing costs.
Additionally, this creditor may have interests that diverge from our interests or interests of our stockholders, and it may
exercise is rights as a creditor in a manner with which our stockholders may not agree or that may not be in the best interests of
the Company. In particular, this creditor’s ownership of the majority of our indebtedness could limit our ability to take certain
actions that are restricted under the agreements relating to our indebtedness. See "Risks Related to Our Indebtedness—Certain
actions, including our ability to incur additional indebtedness, require the consent of our lenders and note holders which, if not
provided, would limit our ability to take advantage of future opportunities."
To our knowledge, this creditor owns a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 2031 Notes. In the event
that this creditor converts their 2031 Notes into Common Stock, they could possess significant voting power with respect to our
Common Stock and may have interests that are different from, or adverse to, the interests of our other stockholders. See "Risks
Related to Our Common Stock—The percentage ownership of our existing stockholders may be diluted in the future, including
upon conversion of the 2027 Notes and/or the 2031 Notes, and holders of the 2031 Notes may possess significant voting power
following conversion of the 2031 Notes."
If we are unable to raise funds necessary to repurchase the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes upon a fundamental change
as described in the 2027 Notes Indenture and the 2031 Notes Indenture, there may be defaults under such indentures and
under agreements governing our existing or future indebtedness. In addition, a change of control may constitute a default
under the 2029 Term Loan Facility, the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes.
If there is a fundamental change, as defined in the 2027 Notes Indenture and the 2031 Notes Indenture, we must, if certain
other conditions are met, make an offer to repurchase the 2027 Notes and the 2031 Notes at a price equal to 110% of the
principal amount thereof, together with any accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the date of the repurchase. If
we become obligated to repurchase the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes upon a change of control, we may not have enough
available cash or may be unable to obtain financing at the time we are required to make purchases of the notes being
surrendered. In addition, our ability to repurchase the notes is limited by the agreements governing our existing indebtedness
(including the notes and the 2029 Term Loan Facility) and may also be limited by law or regulation, or by agreements that will
govern our future indebtedness. Our failure to repurchase the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes at a time when the repurchase is
required by the 2027 Notes Indenture or the 2031 Notes Indenture, respectively, would constitute a default under the respective
indenture. A default under the governing indenture or the change of control itself could also lead to a default under agreements
governing our existing or future indebtedness (including the 2029 Term Loan Facility).
The 2029 Term Loan Facility provides, and future credit agreements or other agreements relating to indebtedness to which
we become a party may provide, that the occurrence of certain change of control events with respect to us would constitute a
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default thereunder. If we experience a change of control event that triggers a default under our 2029 Term Loan Facility, we
may seek a waiver of such default or may attempt to refinance the 2029 Term Loan Facility. In the event we do not obtain such
a waiver or refinance the 2029 Term Loan Facility, such default could result in amounts outstanding under our 2029 Term Loan
Facility being declared due and payable.
The 2029 Term Loan Facility and the 2031 Notes contain, and future indebtedness that we may incur may contain,
prohibitions on the occurrence of certain events that would constitute a change of control or, in the case of the 2027 Notes and
the 2031 Notes, require the repurchase of such indebtedness upon a change of control. Moreover, the exercise by the holders of
their right to require us to repurchase their 2027 Notes or 2031 Notes could cause a default under such indebtedness, even if the
change of control itself does not, due to the financial effect of such repurchase on us. Finally, the ability to pay cash to the
holders of the 2027 Notes and/or the 2031 Notes following the occurrence of a change of control may be limited by our then
existing financial resources. There can be no assurance that sufficient funds will be available when necessary to make any
required repurchases. In addition, the foregoing provisions of our existing and possible indebtedness may prevent or impede a
potential acquirer from engaging in a change of control transaction with us and, accordingly, our stockholders from receiving a
change of control premium.
Risks Related to Digital Commerce and Media
Our strategy of growing our paid digital-only subscriber base may negatively impact advertising revenues in the near
term.
A key element of our consumer strategy is growing our paid digital-only subscriber base, which may lead to declines in our
existing advertising revenue. To implement our strategy and grow our paid digital-only subscriber base, we may need to restrict
certain content from non-subscriber access or limit the amount of content non-subscribers can view in an effort to encourage
non-subscribers to become paid digital subscribers. In the short-term, this strategy may reduce the number of unique visitors
accessing our content and, in turn, reduce our digital advertising revenue. Over time, the anticipated increase in the number of
paid digital-only subscribers is expected to increase our circulation revenue derived from paid digital-only subscribers as well
as our digital advertising revenues. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to increase the number of our paid
digital-only subscribers in amounts or within the time periods we expect. If we are unable to grow or retain the volume of such
subscribers, our circulation and advertising revenues could decline materially and adversely affecting our results of operations
and financial condition.
Declining subscriber volume can also lead to more marked declines in advertising revenue. Print subscriber volume
declines directly impact preprint and other print revenues that are linked to the number of subscribers. In terms of digital
advertising revenues, news aggregation websites and customized news feeds (often free to users) reduce traffic on our websites
and related digital advertising revenues. While we do sell paid digital-only subscriptions for our content through some of these
news aggregators, we have reduced our ability to fully monetize those users since they do not engage with our content within
our own platforms. If traffic levels stagnate or decline, and/or print subscriber volume continues to decline, we may not be able
to maintain or increase the advertising rates or attract new advertising customers. Further, we are generally not compensated for
the consumption of our original content on third-party digital products and social platforms.
We may be unsuccessful in our efforts to execute our digital revenue strategy and optimize our revenue streams.
Print-related revenue streams have continued to decline at a significant pace. We have focused on offsetting traditional
print advertising and circulation revenue declines in part by diversifying our sources of revenue through the development and
acquisition of complementary businesses with growth potential. For example, our business USA TODAY NETWORK
Ventures produces local events.
There can be no assurance that we will be able to grow revenue from these or other complementary businesses we may
develop internally or acquire, or that any revenue generated by new business lines will be adequate to offset revenue declines
from our legacy businesses. For example, technological developments could adversely affect the availability, applicability,
marketability and profitability of the suite of SMB services we offer. Technological developments and any changes we make to
our business strategy may require significant capital investments, and such investments may be restricted by the 2029 Term
Loan Facility.
These complementary businesses also face competition from various digital media providers, such as Google, which may
have more resources to invest in product development and marketing. Our sales force may not be able to utilize the
relationships we have throughout our local property network to effectively sell these products. If we are unable to diversify our
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traditional revenues with revenues from complementary businesses, we may experience persistent declines in revenue which
could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Our DMS segment utilizes online media acquired from third parties and our business could be materially adversely
affected if these companies take actions that are adverse to our interests or otherwise restrict our ability to do business.
Our DMS segment utilizes online media acquired from third parties, particularly Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, which
account for a large majority of all U.S. internet searches and traffic. These companies, and the other companies with which we
do business, have no obligation to conduct business with us, and may decide at any time and for any reason to significantly
curtail or inhibit our ability to do business with them. Additionally, any of these companies may make significant changes to
their respective business models, policies, systems, plans or ownership, and those changes could impair or inhibit the manner in
which they sell their advertising units or otherwise conduct their business with us. For example, new privacy controls and
tracking transparency frameworks that have been implemented or may be implemented in the future, by platforms such as
Facebook, Google, and Apple would limit our ability to access and use data from consumers through those platforms, which we
rely on for digital advertising and marketing. Any such controls or transparency frameworks may impair our ability to market to
consumers. Any new developments or rumors of developments regarding business practices at companies that affect the online
advertising industry may materially and adversely affect our products or services, or create perceptions with our clients that our
ability to compete in the online marketing industry has been impaired.
Any required changes in practices and techniques to enhance the customer experience, including for enhanced data
privacy, could materially and adversely impact our advertising revenues and business results, and impair our ability to
acquire consumers efficiently.
We use certain practices and techniques, such as utilizing third-party cookies, to enhance our customer’s online experience
by allowing us to customize and display relevant content and advertising. As a response to growing concern over data privacy,
third parties, including major browsers, are increasing user agency and increasing privacy controls. The industry-wide shift
towards increased user privacy presents a challenge as the advertising industry has yet to find a universally accepted solution to
address the impact on targeted advertising. If we are unable to find alternative strategies to address data privacy changes, our
ability to provide certain types of advertising may be compromised or may result in lower rates and revenues, and our business
results could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, privacy controls may result in difficulties delivering relevant
audience targeting and our customer acquisition strategies may become less efficient.
Risks Related to Macroeconomic Factors
Volatility in the U.S. and global economies, macroeconomic events, market disruptions, changes in the U.S. or
international political environment, and other events outside of our control, have had, and may in the future have, a
material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Current and future conditions in the economy have an inherent degree of uncertainty and are impacted by political, market,
health and social events or conditions. As a result, it is difficult to estimate the level of growth or contraction for the economy
as a whole. It is even more difficult to estimate growth or contraction in various parts, sectors and regions of the economy,
including the markets in which we participate. We are currently operating in, and expect for the foreseeable future to continue
to operate in, a period of economic uncertainty and market volatility, including as a result of higher inflation, unpredictable
interest rates, supply chain disruptions, expanded or retaliatory tariffs, sanctions, quotas or other trade barriers (including recent
U.S. tariffs imposed or threatened to be imposed on China, Canada and Mexico and other countries and any retaliatory actions
taken by such countries), fluctuating foreign currency exchange rates, changes in governmental administrations, and other
geopolitical events. These conditions have had, and may continue to have, a negative impact on our business, including the
demand for advertising and advertising revenues.
Advertisers have responded, and may in the future respond, to such economic uncertainty by reducing their budgets or
shifting priorities or spending patterns, which has had and could have a material adverse impact on our business. Continued
declines in market spend or advertisers' changing priorities in response to any further economic slowdown or decline could have
a material adverse impact on our business.
Challenging economic conditions, especially higher inflation and interest rates, have had, and may continue to have, an
adverse impact on our consumers and consumer spending, which, in turn, could materially and adversely affect our business.
Discretionary purchases, including for our products and services, generally decline during periods of economic uncertainty,
when disposable income is reduced or when there is a reduction in consumer confidence.
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Higher interest rates, which may continue to fluctuate, could result in increased borrowing costs which may negatively
affect our operating results. We are exposed to potential increases in interest rates associated with our 2029 Term Loan Facility.
Further, if the equity and credit markets deteriorate, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to obtain
in a timely manner, if at all, or on favorable terms, as well as more costly or dilutive. Further, rising interest rates may
negatively impact our ability to sell or dispose of our real estate and other assets which in turn may impact our ability to repay
debt.
Our operations in foreign jurisdictions have also been and may be affected by volatile markets, uncertain economies,
tariffs, and geopolitical and local events. We have been and will continue to be impacted by fluctuations in foreign currency
exchange rates, primarily related to our operations in the U.K.
We have been, and may continue to be, impacted by inflation, higher costs associated with labor, newsprint, ink, printing
plates, fuel, delivery costs and utilities, higher interest rates, and supply chain disruptions, including as a result of tariffs or
retaliatory tariffs. Global or regional recessions, perceived or actual, higher unemployment and declines in income levels may
also materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Adverse changes may also occur as a result of other events outside of our control, including pandemics and other health
crises, political uncertainties, hostilities or social unrest, war, terrorism or other similar events, declining oil prices, wavering
customer confidence, volatility in stock markets, contraction of credit availability, declines in real estate values, natural
disasters, severe weather events (which may occur with increasing frequency and intensity), or other factors affecting economic
conditions in general. These changes may negatively affect the sales of our products, increase exposure to losses from bad
debts, increase the cost and decrease the availability of financing, or increase costs associated with publishing and distributing
our publications. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting business and travel restrictions led to decreased
demand for our advertising services, as well as reductions in the single copy and commercial distribution of our newspapers.
Declining revenue may impair our ability to generate sufficient cash flows to service our existing or any future debt obligations,
including the 2029 Term Loan Facility, the 2031 Notes and the 2027 Notes. There can be no assurance that cost constraint
actions, if any, taken in response to the pandemic or any future crisis outside our control, will offset possible future impacts of
the crisis. Any measures taken to preserve cash flow and defer payments into future periods, such as the deferral of pension
obligations in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, could have a greater impact on cash flow in future periods as we also
incur such payments in the normal course of business. Moreover, such measures, and other measures we may implement in the
future in response to a crisis, may negatively impact our reputation and our ability to attract and retain employees. See "Risks
Related to Pension Obligations and Employees" below. Accordingly, future events outside of our control may have the effect of
heightening various risks described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Any sustained economic downturn in the U.S. or any
of the other countries in which we conduct significant business, other adverse macroeconomic events, market disruptions, or
other events outside of our control, could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial
condition.
Our ability to generate revenues is highly sensitive to the strength of the local economies in which we operate and the
demographics of the local communities that we serve.
Our advertising revenues and, to a lesser extent, circulation revenues, depend upon a variety of factors specific to the
communities that our publications serve. These factors include, among others, the size and demographic characteristics of the
local population, local economic conditions in general and the economic condition of the retail segments of the communities
that our publications serve. Our local operations and the economies we serve are also susceptible to events outside of our
control, which can materially and adversely impact our revenues. For instance, weather-related events such as hurricanes or
other natural disasters can disrupt local businesses, reduce consumer activity, and displace populations, leading to a decline in
advertising and circulation revenues. These events can also cause temporary or long-term business closures in affected areas.
If the local economy, population or prevailing retail environment of a community we serve experiences a downturn, our
publications, revenues and profitability in that market could be materially and adversely affected. Our advertising revenues are
also susceptible to negative trends in the general economy that affect customer spending and is impacted by other external
factors such as competitors' pricing, and advertisers' decisions to increase or decrease their advertising expenditures in response
to anticipated consumer demand. The advertisers in our newspapers and other publications and related websites are primarily
retail businesses that can be significantly affected by regional or national economic downturns and other developments. For
example, many traditional retail companies continue to face greater competition from online retailers and face uncertainty in
their businesses, which has reduced and may continue to reduce their advertising spending. Declines in the U.S. economy could
also significantly affect key advertising revenue categories, including classified ads such as help wanted, real estate, and
automotive.
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The collectability of accounts receivable under adverse economic conditions could deteriorate to a greater extent than
provided for in our financial statements and in our projections of future results.
Adverse economic conditions in the U.S. and in other areas where we operate may increase our exposure to losses resulting
from financial distress, insolvency and the potential bankruptcy of our advertising customers. Our accounts receivable is stated
at net estimated realizable value, and our allowance for credit losses represents our best estimate of credit exposure and is
determined based on several factors, including the length of time the receivables are past due, historical payment trends and
current economic factors. If such collectability estimates prove inaccurate, adjustments to future operating results could occur.
Evolving regulatory matters may impact our business.
The rules and regulations related to environmental, social and governance ("ESG") and diversity, equity and inclusion
("DEI") matters imposed or proposed by governmental and self-regulatory organizations such as the SEC and the New York
Stock Exchange have been changing at a rapid pace. A variety of third-party organizations, institutional investors and
customers evaluate the performance of companies on ESG topics, and the results of these assessments are widely publicized.
These changing rules, regulations and stakeholder expectations may result in increased general and administrative expenses and
increased management time and attention spent complying with or meeting such regulations and expectations. Furthermore,
statements about our ESG-related initiatives and goals, and progress against those goals, may be based on standards for
measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve and assumptions that are
subject to change in the future. If our ESG-related data, processes and reporting are incomplete or inaccurate, or if we fail to
achieve progress with respect to our goals, on a timely basis, or at all, our reputation, business, financial performance and
growth could be adversely affected. Also, given the rapidly changing regulatory landscape, we may in the future also face a
heightened risk of litigation and compliance obligations in connection with these rules and regulations.
If our reputation or brand is damaged, our ability to grow our user base, advertiser relationships, and partnerships may
be impaired, and our business may be harmed.
We have developed trusted brands comprised of our national publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations
that provide audiences with essential journalism. We believe our reputation and the trust we have built with our audiences have
contributed to our success. We also believe that maintaining and enhancing our brand and reputation is critical to growing our
user base, advertiser relationships, and partnerships. Maintaining and enhancing our reputation and brand depends on many
factors, including factors that are beyond our control. If our products and services do not work as intended, are utilized in
methods not intended, violate the law, or harm individuals or businesses, we may be subject to government investigations,
enforcement actions, lawsuits, or other legal claims. These risks, if realized, may increase our costs, damage our reputation, or
adversely affect our results of operations. Further, changes in government policies, legislation, and scrutiny may result in
heightened compliance requirements and greater risks of litigation and reputational harm. In addition, defending a lawsuit,
regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management's attention and if our business liability insurance coverage is
inadequate or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our financial condition could be harmed. If we fail to
successfully promote and maintain our trusted brand or if we suffer damage to the public perception of our brand, our business,
operating results, and financial condition may be harmed.
Risks Related to International Operations
Our financial results are subject to risks associated with our international operations.
The Newsquest segment operates in the U.K., and the DMS segment has international sales operations in the U.K.,
Australia, New Zealand and Canada, as well as campaign support services in India. Revenue from international operations
comprised 11% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024. Our ability to manage these international operations
successfully is subject to numerous risks inherent in foreign operations, including:
- Challenges or uncertainties arising from unexpected legal, political, economic, or systemic events, including, for
example as a result of the continued impacts of Brexit on the relationship between the U.K. and Europe;
- Difficulties or delays in developing a network of clients in international markets;
- Restrictions on the ability of U.S. companies to do business in certain foreign countries;
- Compliance with legal or regulatory requirements, including with respect to internet services, privacy and data
protection, censorship, banking and money transfers, and sale transactions, which may limit or prevent the offering of
our products in some jurisdictions or otherwise harm our business;
- International intellectual property laws that may be insufficient to protect our intellectual property or permit us to
successfully defend our intellectual property in international lawsuits;
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- Difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations, as well as the existence of workers' councils and labor unions,
which could make it more difficult to terminate underperforming employees;
- Currency fluctuations and price controls or other restrictions on foreign currency; and
- Potential adverse tax and legislation consequences, including difficulties in repatriating earnings generated abroad.
Any of the foregoing factors could materially and adversely impact our international operations, which could harm our
overall business, operating results, and financial condition.
Foreign exchange variability could materially and adversely affect our consolidated operating results.
Our financial statements are denominated in U.S. dollars; however, certain of our operations are conducted in currencies
other than our reporting currency because we conduct operations in foreign jurisdictions. For example, Newsquest operates in
the U.K., and its operations are conducted in foreign currency, primarily the British pound sterling. Weakening in the British
pound sterling to U.S. dollar exchange rate has in the past, and could in the future, diminish Newsquest's contributions to our
results of operations. If the value of currency in any of the jurisdictions where we conduct business weakens as compared with
the U.S. dollar, our operations in those jurisdictions similarly will contribute less to our results. Since our financial statements
are denominated in U.S. dollars, changes in foreign currency exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and other currencies have
had, and will continue to have, a currency translation impact on our earnings when the results of those operations that are
reported in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars for inclusion in our consolidated financial statements, which
could, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our reported results of operations in a given period or in specific markets.
Domestic and/or foreign jurisdictions may enact gross receipts taxes on our digital services which, if we are required to
pay, could materially adversely affect our cash flows and financial condition.
The U.K. imposes a 2% Digital Services Tax ("DST") that applies to gross revenue of specified digital business models
deriving value from participation of their U.K.-based users. The tax is intended to apply to search engines, social media
platforms, and online marketplaces. Newsquest's revenue from its small online marketplace is currently below the threshold at
which the DST applies. If Newsquest's applicable revenues grew to exceed the threshold and/or if DST was to become
applicable more widely to online advertising, we may have to pay additional cash taxes, which could materially and adversely
affect our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
In 2024, Canada introduced a Digital Services Tax ("Canadian DST") which imposes a 3% tax on revenues in excess of
CAD20 million from digital services. It applies to revenue from online marketplace services, online advertising services, social
media services, or the sale or licensing of user data obtained from online marketplaces, social media platforms or online search
engines. Currently, our Canadian-source digital revenues are below the Canadian DST threshold. If our relevant revenues
surpass the threshold, it could increase our tax complexity and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition,
and cash flows.
Maryland enacted the first tax targeting digital advertising in the United States. The scaled rate between 2.5% and 10%
Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax will be imposed on annual gross revenues derived from digital advertising services.
The rate of tax varies depending on the amount of revenue a company earns. However, as amended, the legislation exempts
digital advertising by a "broadcast entity" or a "news media entity." Maryland's new digital advertising tax could be the
beginning of a wave of similar new taxes on digital advertising enacted by other states that are experiencing budget shortfalls
and economic distress. Adoption of similar taxes in U.S. states, particularly if such states do not exempt broadcast or news
media entities, could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
Risks Related to International Tax Legislation
Foreign jurisdictions in which we operate may enact rules to address the tax challenges of the digitization of the global
economy, such as those from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which could have a material
adverse impact on our consolidated financial statements.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (the "OECD")/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion
and Profit Shifting has agreed on a two-pillar approach to address tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the global
economy by (i) allocating profits to market jurisdictions ("Pillar One") and (ii) ensuring multinational enterprises pay a
minimum level of tax regardless of where the headquarters are located or the jurisdictions in which the company operates
("Pillar Two"). Pillar One targets multinational groups with global revenue exceeding €20 billion and a profit-to-revenue ratio
of more than 10%. Companies subject to Pillar One will be required to allocate certain residual profits to market jurisdictions
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where goods or services are used or consumed. Pillar Two focuses on global profit allocation, ensuring multinational companies
with revenues exceeding €750 million are subject to a global minimum tax rate of 15% on income arising in low-tax
jurisdictions. In July 2023, the European Union ("EU") enacted Pillar Two legislation introducing an Income Inclusion Rule
and a domestic minimum top-up tax to apply for accounting periods beginning on or after December 31, 2023. Similar rules are
being or may be implemented in many jurisdictions where we operate. The timing and method of the adoption or
implementation of these Pillar Two rules could increase tax complexity and uncertainty in jurisdictions where we conduct
business. In January 2025, President Trump issued an executive order which contains a statement requiring the U.S. Secretary
of the Treasury to notify the OECD that any commitments made by the prior administration with respect to the OECD's Global
Tax Deal (which references Pillars I and II) have no force or effect in the U.S. absent an act by Congress. In addition, the order
instructs the U.S. Treasury to investigate whether any foreign countries are not in compliance with any U.S. tax treaty or
otherwise have or are likely to put tax rules in place that are extraterritorial or disproportionately affect American companies.
The U.S. Secretary of Treasury is instructed to develop and present to the President a list of options for protective measures and
actions in response to such noncompliance or tax rules. As a result, this executive order may have a chilling effect on the
willingness of other countries to impose or enforce the two-pillars. Currently, we do not expect to be subject to taxes under
Pillar One or Pillar Two, but will continue to assess the potential impacts of both on our consolidated financial statements and
related disclosures. Any future rules or regulations addressing the tax challenges arising from the digitization of the global
economy could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial statements.
Risks Related to Personal Information, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and Other Technology
Our possession and use of personal information and the use of payment cards by our customers and users present risks
and expenses that could harm our business. Unauthorized access to or disclosure or manipulation of such data, whether
through breach of our, or our third-party service providers', network security or otherwise, could expose us to liabilities and
costly litigation and damage our reputation.
Our information systems, both online and on-premise, store and process large amounts of confidential employee,
subscriber and other user data, such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, and other personal information.
Therefore, maintaining our network and identity security is critical.
In addition, we rely on the technology, systems, and services provided by third-party vendors and outsourced service
providers (including cloud-based service providers) to process the personal information of our employees, subscribers and other
users, and for a variety of other operations, including encryption and authentication technology, employee email, domain name
registration, content delivery to customers, administrative functions (including payroll processing and certain finance and
accounting functions), technology functions (including application development and technology support functions) and other
operations. Accordingly, we depend on the security of our third-party service providers and business partners to protect these
functions and associated data. Unauthorized use of or inappropriate access to our, or our third-party service providers' or
business partners' networks, computer systems and services could potentially jeopardize the security of personal information or
other confidential information of our customers or users, including payment card (credit or debit) information.
A significant number of our customers authorize us to bill their payment card accounts directly for all amounts charged by
us. These customers provide payment card information and other personally identifiable information which, depending on the
particular payment plan, may be maintained to facilitate future payment card transactions. Under payment card rules and our
contracts with our card processors, if there is a breach of payment card information that we store, we could be liable to the
banks that issue the payment cards for their related expenses and penalties. In addition, if we fail to follow payment card
industry data security standards, even if there is no compromise of customer information, we could incur significant fines or
lose our ability to give our customers the option of using payment cards. If we were unable to accept payment cards, our
business would be seriously harmed.
We regularly face risks related to cybersecurity incidents and threats, including attempts by malicious actors, which may
be external or internal threat actors, to breach our security and compromise our information technology systems.
In addition to the risks related to personal information discussed above, because we are a news reporting organization,
cybersecurity risks also include attempts by attackers to manipulate or misrepresent our news reporting. Attackers may use a
blend of technology and social engineering techniques (including denial of service attacks, phishing attempts intended to induce
our employees and users to disclose information or unwittingly provide access to systems or data, and other techniques) to
disrupt service or exfiltrate data. Cybersecurity incidents and threats are constantly evolving, increasing the difficulty of
detecting and successfully defending against them. We and the third parties with which we work may be more vulnerable to the
risk from activities of this nature as a result of operational changes such as significant increases in remote work. To date, no
cybersecurity incidents or threats have had, either individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on our business,
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financial condition, or results of operations.
Our systems, and those of the third parties with which we work and on which we rely, also may be vulnerable to
interruption or damage that can result from the effects of natural disasters or climate change (such as increased storm severity
and flooding); fires; power, systems or internet outages; acts of terrorism; pandemics; or other similar events.
Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change
frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we or our third-party service providers or business
partners may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Non-technical means,
such as actions or omissions by an employee or contractor, can also result in a data breach or other cybersecurity incident. A
party that is able to circumvent our security measures could misappropriate our proprietary information or the information of
our vendors, business partners, customers or users, cause interruption in our operations, or damage our computers or those of
our vendors, business partners, customers or users. As a result of any such breaches or incidents, vendors, business partners,
customers, users or other third parties may assert claims of liability against us and these activities may subject us to
governmental fines or penalties, legal claims, adversely impact our reputation, and interfere with our ability to provide our
products and services, all of which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
The coverage and limits of our insurance policies may not be adequate to reimburse us for losses caused by security breaches or
other cybersecurity incidents.
We have implemented controls and taken other preventative measures designed to strengthen our systems against such
cybersecurity incidents and threats, including measures designed to reduce the impact of a security breach at our third-party
vendors and outsourced service providers. Efforts to prevent hackers from disrupting our service or otherwise accessing our
systems are expensive to develop, implement and maintain. These efforts require ongoing monitoring and updating as
technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become more sophisticated and may limit the functionality of or
otherwise negatively impact our products, services, and systems. Although the costs of the controls and other measures we have
taken to date have not had a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity, the costs and effort to
respond to a cybersecurity incident or threat and/or to mitigate any security vulnerabilities that may be identified in the future
could be significant.
There can be no assurance that any security measures we, or our third-party service providers, take will be effective in
preventing a cybersecurity incident that could have a material impact on us. We may need to expend significant resources to
protect against security incidents or to address problems caused by such incidents. If an actual or perceived incident or breach
of our security occurs, the perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed and we could lose
customers or users. Failure to protect confidential customer data or to provide customers with adequate notice of our privacy
policies could also subject us to liabilities imposed by international or United States federal and state regulatory agencies or
courts. We could also be subject to evolving international, federal and state laws that impose data breach notification
requirements, specific data security obligations, or other customer privacy-related requirements. Our failure to comply with any
of these laws or regulations may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Privacy and security-related laws and other data security requirements are constantly evolving and may increase our
compliance costs and potential for liability, either of which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
and results of operations.
Many jurisdictions have enacted or are considering enacting privacy or data protection laws and regulations that apply to
the processing or protection of personal information. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation adopted by the EU
and the Data Protection Act of 2018 in the U.K. impose stringent data protection requirements and significant penalties for
noncompliance; California's Consumer Privacy Act created data privacy rights, which other states have implemented as well.
By the end of 2025, we expect there will be 17 U.S. state data privacy laws in effect. These laws and regulations may impose
notification requirements, notice and consent requirements and specific data security obligations, and may also provide for a
private right of action or statutory damages. In addition, all 50 U.S. states have data breach notification laws. The compliance
costs and operational burdens imposed by these laws and regulations could be significant. Failure to protect confidential
personal data, provide individuals with adequate notice of our privacy policies, our use of AI products or services, or obtain
required valid consent, could subject us to liabilities imposed by the jurisdictions where we operate. Further, because some of
our products and services are available on the internet, we may be subject to laws or regulations exposing us to liability or
compliance obligations even in jurisdictions where we do not have a substantial presence.
Existing privacy-related laws and regulations are evolving and are subject to potentially differing interpretations. In
addition, cure periods under various state privacy laws that were in effect when the laws were first enacted have expired or will
expire, meaning non-compliance with such laws would result in exposure to immediate penalties without a grace period.
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Various federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies, as well as foreign legislative and regulatory bodies, may expand
current laws or enact new laws regarding privacy and data protection or increase enforcement efforts under existing laws. For
example, the EU's anticipated ePrivacy Regulation is expected to impose, with respect to electronic communications and
website cookies, additional data protection and data processing requirements beyond those of the current EU ePrivacy
Directive. In addition, various regulatory bodies have increased privacy-related enforcement efforts, such as the Federal Trade
Commission's enforcement activities relating to misleading privacy disclosures. Any failure or perceived failure by us, or the
third-party service providers upon which we rely, to comply with laws and regulations that govern our business operations, as
well as any failure or perceived failure by us, or the third-party service providers upon which we rely, to comply with our own
posted policies, could result in claims against us by governmental entities or others, negative publicity and a loss of confidence
in us by our customers, users and advertisers. Each of these potential consequences could materially adversely affect our
business and results of operations.
We use AI and may use other new technologies in our business. Challenges with properly managing their use by us or
third parties could result in reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability, and adversely affect our results of
operations.
We have incorporated and will likely continue to incorporate AI solutions, products, and services including those both
developed in-house as well as third party AI products and services, as well as and other new technologies into our platform,
offerings, services and features, and these applications have become important and may become more important in our
operations over time. Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their products more quickly or more
successfully than us, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations. If our
competitors and other third parties adopt AI applications that use our content without end users visiting our network of
websites, our digital advertising and subscription revenues could be reduced and we could lose additional monetization
opportunities. The introduction of AI applications into our business may disrupt our relationship with employees and/or result
in labor disputes if the AI tools are viewed as displacing work from newsrooms, which could adversely affect our business and
results of operations. Additionally, if the content, analyses, or recommendations that AI applications assist in producing, or our
descriptions of our AI use in contexts where we make AI disclosures, are or are alleged to be deficient, inaccurate, or biased,
our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected.
The use of AI applications may result in cybersecurity incidents that implicate the personal data of end users of such
applications or other confidential data. Any such cybersecurity incidents related to our use of AI applications could adversely
affect our reputation and results of operations and expose us to civil litigation and/or regulatory actions. AI applications also
introduce risks to our ability to protect our intellectual property, to the extent large language models have used our content to
train AI tools. Similarly, if we use open-source AI applications, we could be subject to claims of infringement of others’
intellectual property, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
AI also presents emerging ethical and legal issues and our use of AI may result in brand or reputational harm, competitive
harm, or legal liability. The EU and several U.S. states including California, Colorado and Utah have recently enacted AI-
focused consumer protection laws. The rapid evolution of AI, including current and future regulation of AI, could significantly
impact our business and will require significant resources to develop, test and maintain our platform, offerings, services, and
features to help us implement AI ethically and in a compliant manner in order to minimize unintended, harmful impacts.
Defects, delays, or interruptions in the cloud-based hosting services we utilize, both directly and indirectly, could
adversely affect our systems, reputation and operating results.
Third-party subscription-based software services as well as public cloud infrastructure services are utilized to provide
solutions for many of our computing and bandwidth needs. Any interruptions to these services generally could result in the
unavailability of our content sites, and interruptions in service to our subscribers and advertisers and/or our critical business
functions, notwithstanding any contractual service level commitments, business continuity or disaster recovery plans or
agreements that may currently be in place with some of these providers. This could result in unanticipated downtime and/or
harm to our operations, reputation, and operating results. A transition from these services to different cloud providers would be
difficult to implement and cause us to incur significant time and expense. In addition, if hosting costs increase over time and/or
if we require more computing or storage capacity as a result of subscriber growth or otherwise, our costs could increase
disproportionately.
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Additional Risks Related to Our Business
Any significant increase in newsprint costs or disruptions in our newsprint supply chain, including as a result of
manufacturing facility closures and on-going capacity shifts between newsprint and specialty paper grades, transportation
and other issues that are challenging supplier deliveries, increased demand, and inflationary pressures, may materially and
adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our ability to supply the needs of our print operations depends upon the continuing availability of newsprint at an
acceptable price, and our results of operations may be impacted significantly by changes in newsprint prices. The price of
newsprint has historically been volatile, and a number of factors may cause prices to increase, including capacity reductions
through the closure and consolidation of newsprint mills or the conversion of newsprint mills to other products or grades of
paper, which has reduced the number of newsprint suppliers over the years. North American newsprint is supplied by nine
manufacturers with only three mills in the United States. Offshore exports are approximately 50% of total North America
shipments and will increase as domestic demand declines and global newsprint capacity is removed. North American suppliers
are becoming a larger share of the global market and domestic supply is susceptible to supply chain disruptions and pricing
volatility tied to economic and geopolitical factors, including tariffs and retaliatory tariffs. We may not be able to secure
alternative providers quickly and cost-effectively, which could disrupt our printing and distribution operations or increase the
cost of printing and distributing our newspapers. Shortages of newsprint have historically resulted in, and may in the future
result in, higher prices. We generally maintain only a 30- to 55-day inventory of newsprint. The timely procurement of
necessary production materials is critical and any significant increase in the cost of newsprint, or undersupply or other
significant disruption in the newsprint supply chain, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations
and financial condition.
The value of our goodwill and intangible assets may become impaired, which could materially and adversely affect
future reported results of operations.
Our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets, which include mastheads, are subject to annual impairment testing, and
more frequent testing upon the occurrence of certain events or significant changes in our circumstances, to determine whether
the fair value of such assets is less than their carrying value. In such a case, a non-cash charge to earnings may be necessary in
the relevant period, which could materially and adversely affect future reported results of operations. At December 31, 2024,
the carrying value of our goodwill, indefinite-lived intangible assets and amortizable intangible assets was $530.0 million,
$166.7 million and $263.7 million, respectively.
We performed goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible impairment tests in the fourth quarter of 2024 with the assistance of
third-party valuation specialists and determined that there were no goodwill or intangible impairments.
Management assumptions used to calculate fair value are highly subjective and involve forecasts of future economic and
market conditions and their impact on operating performance. Changes in key assumptions impacting the analyses could result
in the recognition of additional impairment. There can be no assurance that we will not be required to take an impairment
charge in the future which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. While we believe our judgments
represent reasonably possible outcomes based on available facts and circumstances, adverse changes to the assumptions,
including those related to macroeconomic factors, comparable public company trading values and prevailing conditions in the
capital markets, could lead to future declines in the fair value of a reporting unit. If our future operating results are not in line
with the cash flow forecasts underlying our impairment analysis, we could have an impairment of our goodwill or intangible
assets in the future and such impairment could materially affect our operating results. We continually evaluate whether current
factors or indicators, such as prevailing conditions in the business environment, capital markets or the economy generally, and
actual or projected operating results, require the performance of an interim impairment assessment of goodwill, as well as other
long-lived assets. For example, any significant shortfall, now or in the future, in advertising revenues or subscribers and/or
consumer acceptance of our products could lead to a downward revision in the fair value of certain reporting units.
We may not be able to protect intellectual property rights upon which our business relies and, if we lose intellectual
property protection, our assets may lose value.
Our business depends on our intellectual property, including, but not limited to, our titles, mastheads, content and
proprietary software, which we may attempt to protect through patents, copyrights, trade laws and contractual restrictions, such
as confidentiality agreements. We believe our proprietary and other intellectual property rights are important to our success and
our competitive position.
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Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized third parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and
use our content, services and other intellectual property, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent any
misappropriation or confusion among consumers and merchants, or unauthorized use of these rights. If we are unable to
procure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights, we may not realize the full value of these assets, and our business
may suffer. If we must litigate to enforce our intellectual property rights or determine the validity and scope of the proprietary
rights of third parties, such litigation may be costly and divert the attention of our management from day-to-day operations.
We are subject to environmental and employee safety and health laws and regulations that could cause us to incur
significant compliance expenditures and liabilities.
Our operations are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations pertaining to the environment, storage tanks and
the management and disposal of wastes at our facilities. Under various environmental laws, a current or previous owner or
operator of real property may be liable for contamination resulting from the release or threatened release of hazardous or toxic
substances or petroleum at that property. Such laws often impose liability on the owner or operator without regard to fault, and
the costs of any required investigation or cleanup can be substantial. Although in connection with certain of our acquisitions we
have rights to indemnification for certain environmental liabilities, these rights may not be sufficient to reimburse us for all
losses that we might incur if a property acquired by us has environmental contamination. In addition, although in connection
with certain of our acquisitions we have obtained insurance policies for coverage for certain potential environmental liabilities,
these policies have express exclusions to coverage as well as express limits on amounts of coverage and length of term.
Accordingly, these insurance policies may not be sufficient to provide coverage for us for all losses that we might incur if a
property acquired by us has environmental contamination.
Our operations are also subject to various employee safety and health laws and regulations, including those pertaining to
occupational injury and illness, employee exposure to hazardous materials and employee complaints. Environmental and
employee safety and health laws tend to be complex, comprehensive and frequently changing. As a result, we may be involved
from time to time in administrative and judicial proceedings and investigations related to environmental and employee safety
and health issues. These proceedings and investigations could result in substantial costs to us, divert our management's attention
and adversely affect our ability to sell, lease or develop our real property. Furthermore, if it is determined that we are not in
compliance with applicable laws and regulations, or if our properties are contaminated, it could result in significant liabilities,
fines or the suspension or interruption of the operations of specific printing facilities. Future events, such as changes in existing
laws and regulations, new laws or regulations or the discovery of conditions not currently known to us, may give rise to
additional compliance or remedial costs that could be material.
We may not be able to generate future taxable income which may prevent our realization of deferred tax assets or
require us to establish additional valuation allowances which could materially and adversely affect future reported results of
operations.
We have deferred tax assets reported on our balance sheet, net of valuation allowances and deferred tax liabilities of $56.1
million. If we do not generate taxable income in future years, we may be required to establish a valuation allowance against the
deferred tax assets that are not currently valued.
Risks Related to Pension Obligations and Employees
We are required to use a portion of our cash flows to make contributions to our pension and postretirement plans,
which diverts cash flow from operations, and the amount of required future contributions may be difficult to estimate.
We, along with our subsidiaries, sponsor various defined benefit retirement plans, including plans established under
collective bargaining agreements. Our retirement plans include (i) the Gannett Retirement Plan (the "GR Plan"), (ii) the Gannett
Retirement Plan for Certain Union Employees, (iii) the Newsquest Pension Scheme in the U.K., (iv) the Newspaper Guild of
Detroit Pension Plan, (v) the George W. Prescott Publishing Company Pension Plan and (vi) the Times Publishing Company
Defined Benefit Pension Plan.
We also participate in certain multiemployer pension plans and because of the nature of multiemployer pension plans, there
are risks to us associated with participation in these plans. For example, in the event of the termination of a multiemployer
pension plan, or a complete or partial withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan, under applicable law we could incur
material withdrawal liabilities. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we recorded $24.5 million related to withdrawal
liabilities which were expensed as a result of ceasing contributions to multiemployer pension plans in which we formerly
participated.
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Our pension plans invest in a variety of equity and debt securities. Future volatility and disruption in the equity and bond
markets could cause declines in the asset values of our pension plans. As of December 31, 2024, the value of our pension assets
exceeded our pension benefit obligations and our retirement plans were overfunded by approximately $156.6 million on a U.S.
generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP") basis.
Our ability to make contribution payments will depend on our future cash flows, which are subject to general economic,
financial, competitive, business, legislative, regulatory, and other factors beyond our control. Various factors, including future
investment returns, interest rates, longevity, and potential pension legislative changes, may impact the timing and amount of
future pension contributions.
The loss of the services of any of our key personnel, reduced staffing levels, or our inability to attract qualified
personnel in the future may materially and adversely affect our ability to operate or grow our business effectively.
The success of our business depends heavily on our ability to attract and retain knowledgeable, experienced personnel that
execute critical functions for us, any of whom may be difficult to replace. It will also be necessary for us to be able to continue
to attract, retain and engage such qualified personnel in the future. Demand for experienced, capable talent remains highly
competitive. As we continue to implement our business strategy and transform the organization, cost control initiatives have
resulted in a reduced workforce, causing management to operate with reduced capacity in some areas of our business. Reduced
staffing levels may materially and adversely affect our ability to conduct our operations and other functions effectively and
impact our profitability and cash flow, especially under economic pressures. Further, if we are unable to have competitive
compensation programs, the incentives provided by our securities or by other compensation and benefits arrangements are
ineffective, or there are perceived or actual limitations for growth opportunities, we may experience increased turnover and loss
of critical capabilities. Reduced talent acquisition capacity, limited employee investment and industry pressures, may further
challenge our ability to hire in a competitive market. While we have entered into letter agreements with certain of our key
personnel, these agreements do not ensure that such personnel will continue in their present capacity with us for any particular
period of time and we do not have agreements with all of our critical personnel. Further, we do not have key employee
insurance for any of our current management or other key personnel. The loss of any key personnel or critical employee would
require our remaining key personnel to divert immediate and substantial attention to seek a replacement. The loss of the
services of any of our existing key personnel, including senior officers and critical talent, as a result of competition or for any
other reason, or an inability to find a suitable replacement for any departing key employee on a timely basis could materially
and adversely affect our ability to operate or grow our business.
We rely on equity-based compensation to attract, retain, and motivate our key employees, which may result in price
pressures on our Common Stock, stockholder dilution and increased usage of shares under our equity incentive plan during
periods in which our stock price is depressed. Our ability to continue a competitive long-term equity-based incentive
program required to attract and retain talent may be hindered, and alternative incentive models may cause our cash flows to
be reduced.
We rely upon equity awards including stock option awards, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units and preferred
stock units as a component of our employee and director compensation programs to align our directors', officers' and
employees' interests with the interests of our stockholders, to attract and retain key talent and provide competitive compensation
packages. During periods in which our stock price declines, we may be required to issue equity awards under the terms of our
existing incentive plan covering a larger number of shares than anticipated to meet the current market level of compensation
required to retain key employees given the strong demand for talent. We also may be required to use a greater percentage of our
cash flow for incentive, retention and hiring payments, which would reduce the cash flow available for other purposes and
could have a material adverse effect on our ability to attract and retain talent necessary to run our business. Our stock price also
may face incremental downward pressure as employees sell more shares into the market than anticipated. In addition,
stockholders may experience additional dilution to the extent we are required to seek, and we obtain, stockholder approval to
expand the size of our employee equity incentive pool in order to maintain a competitive compensation position.
A shortage of skilled or experienced employees with the capabilities necessary to support our business strategies, or our
inability to retain such employees, could pose a risk to achieving our business objectives, which could materially adversely
affect our business and profitability.
Production and distribution of our various publications and service lines requires skilled and experienced employees. We
need to hire and retain qualified employees to support our business strategies. We may be constrained in hiring and retaining
sufficient qualified employees due to general labor shortages, shifts in workforce availability or interest in our sector, any hiring
freeze we have or may in the future impose, any pandemic or public health crises, or due to challenging macroeconomic market
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conditions. A shortage of such employees, as well as increased turnover rates, could have an adverse impact on our productivity
and costs, our ability to expand, develop and distribute new products, our entry into new markets, and our ability to achieve our
business goals. The cost of retaining or hiring such employees could exceed our expectations, which could materially and
adversely affect our results of operations and continued labor constraints may limit our profitability due to the impact of rising
wages.
A number of our employees are unionized, and our business and results of operations could be materially adversely
affected if current or additional labor negotiations or contracts were to further restrict our ability to maximize the efficiency
of our operations.
As of December 31, 2024, we employed approximately 8,900 employees in the U.S., of whom approximately 1,500 (or
approximately 17%) were represented by seven unions. Of the unionized employees, 50% are in five states: Michigan, Rhode
Island, New Jersey, Arizona, and Ohio and represented 15%, 10%, 9%, 8%, and 8% of all our union employees, respectively.
Although the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle engaged in a short-lived strike in 2024, our other newspapers have not
experienced a union strike in the recent past nor do we anticipate a union strike to occur, we cannot preclude the possibility that
a strike may occur at one or more of our newspapers at some point in the future. We believe that, in the event of a newspaper
strike, we would be able to continue to publish and deliver to subscribers, which is critical to retaining advertising and
circulation revenues, although there can be no assurance of this. Further, settlement of actual or threatened labor disputes or an
increase in the number of our employees covered by collective bargaining agreements can have unknown effects on our labor
costs, productivity and flexibility.
Risks Related to the Termination of our Relationship with our Former Manager
Our Former Manager is not liable to us for certain acts or omissions performed in accordance with, and prior to the
termination of, the Former Management Agreement, and for certain matters in connection with the termination of our
relationship with the Former Manager, and we may incur liability for such acts or omissions.
Pursuant to, and prior to the termination of, the Former Management Agreement, the Former Manager assumed no
responsibility other than to render the services called for thereunder in good faith and was not responsible for any action of our
Board of Directors in following or declining to follow its advice or recommendations. The Former Manager, its members,
managers, officers and employees are not liable to us or any of our subsidiaries, to our Board of Directors, or our or any
subsidiary's stockholders or partners for any acts or omissions by the Former Manager, its members, managers, officers or
employees, except by reason of acts constituting bad faith, willful misconduct, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the
Former Manager's duties under the Former Management Agreement that occurred prior to its termination. Pursuant to the
Termination Agreement, our indemnification obligations to the Former Manager and its affiliates under the Former
Management Agreement survive its termination indefinitely. In addition, pursuant to the Termination Agreement, the Former
Manager will be held harmless with respect to certain acts and omissions performed in connection with the Termination
Agreement except by reason of acts or omissions constituting bad faith, willful misconduct, gross negligence or reckless
disregard of the Former Manager's performance under the Termination Agreement. As a result, we may incur liabilities as a
result of certain acts or omissions by the Former Manager, which could materially and adversely impact our business and
results of operations.
Risks Related to our Common Stock
Our stock price is subject to volatility and there can be no assurance that the market for our stock will provide adequate
liquidity.
The market price of our Common Stock may fluctuate widely, depending upon many factors, some of which may be
beyond our control. These factors include, without limitation:
- Risks and uncertainties associated with public health matters and other events outside of our control;
- Our business profile and market capitalization may not fit the investment objectives of any stockholder;
- A shift in our investor base;
- Our quarterly or annual earnings, or those of other comparable companies;
- Actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;
- Risks relating to our ability to meet long-term forecasts;
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- Announcements by us or our competitors of significant investments, acquisitions or dispositions, strategic
developments and other material events;
- The failure of securities analysts to cover our Common Stock;
- Changes in earnings estimates by securities analysts or our ability to meet those estimates;
- The operating and stock price performance of other comparable companies;
- Negative public perception of us, our competitors, or industry;
- Overall market fluctuations or volatility, including, but not limited to, as a result of changes in political or other
conditions affecting the financial and capital markets;
- Changes in accounting standards, policies guidance, interpretations or principles; and
- General economic conditions.
In addition, our Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million of our Common Stock (the "Stock
Repurchase Program"). The amount and timing of the purchases, if any, will depend on a number of factors, including, but not
limited to, the price and availability of the shares, trading volume, capital availability, Company performance and general
economic and market conditions. Further, future repurchases under our Stock Repurchase Program may be subject to various
conditions under the terms of our various debt instruments and agreements, unless an exception is available or we obtain a
waiver or similar relief. The Stock Repurchase Program will continue in effect until the approved dollar amount has been used
to repurchase shares or the program is terminated by further action of the Board of Directors. This repurchase program has no
termination date and may be suspended or discontinued at any time. The Stock Repurchase Program does not require us to
repurchase any specific number of shares of Common Stock or any shares of Common Stock at all. We cannot assure
stockholders that any specific number of shares of Common Stock, if any, will be repurchased under the Stock Repurchase
Program. The Company does not currently anticipate repurchasing any shares of Common Stock during the first quarter of
2025. Our stock repurchases, if any, could affect the trading price of our stock, the volatility of our stock price, reduce our cash
reserves, and may be suspended or discontinued at any time, which may result in a decrease in our stock price.
Further, stock markets in general and recently have experienced volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating
performance of a particular company. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of our Common
Stock. Additionally, these and other external factors have caused and may continue to cause the market price and demand for
our Common Stock to fluctuate, which may limit or prevent investors from readily selling their shares of Common Stock and
may otherwise negatively affect the liquidity of our Common Stock. Further, an unpredictable or volatile U.S. political
environment, including any social unrest and uncertainty as a result of the change in the U.S. presidential administration, could
negatively impact business and market conditions, economic growth, financial stability, and business, consumer, investor, and
regulatory sentiments, any one or more of which could have a material adverse impact on our stock price, financial condition
and results of operations.
Sales or issuances of shares of our Common Stock, including upon conversion of the 2027 Notes and/or the 2031 Notes,
could materially adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
Sales or issuances of substantial amounts of shares of our Common Stock in the public market, or the perception that such
sales or issuances might occur, could adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock. The issuance of our Common
Stock in connection with property, portfolio or business acquisitions or the settlement of awards that may be granted under our
Incentive Plans (as defined below) or otherwise could also have an adverse effect on the market price of our Common Stock.
In accordance with the Investor Agreement among the Company and the holders of the 2027 Notes (the "2027 Holders")
and the Registration Rights Agreement among the Company and holders of the 2031 Notes (together with the 2027 Holders, the
"Holders"), in each case establishing certain terms and conditions concerning the rights and restrictions on the respective
Holders with respect to the Holders' respective ownership of the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes, the Holders have certain
registration rights with respect to the shares of Common Stock to be issued upon conversion of the 2027 Notes or the 2031
Notes. In addition, Holders who receive Common Stock upon conversion of the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes may be able to
sell these shares of Common Stock pursuant to any applicable exemption under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the
rules promulgated thereunder, including Rule 144, if applicable. If significant quantities of the Common Stock are sold, or if it
is perceived that they may be sold, the trading price of the Common Stock could go down.
We presently have no intention to declare or pay a dividend, the terms of our indebtedness restrict our ability to pay
dividends, and we may not be able to pay dividends in the future or at all.
We presently have no intention to declare or pay a dividend, and there can be no assurance that we will pay dividends in
the future.
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Our 2029 Term Loan Facility contains terms that restrict our ability to pay dividends or make other distributions. Under the
2029 Term Loan Facility, we can only pay cash dividends up to an agreed-upon amount and provided that the ratio of Total
Indebtedness secured on an equal priority basis with the 2029 Term Loan Facility (net of Unrestricted Cash) to Consolidated
EBITDA (as such terms are defined in the 2029 Term Loan Facility) does not exceed a specified ratio. The 2031 Notes
Indenture contains similar dividend restrictions. The 2031 Notes Indenture also provides that, at any time our Total Gross
Leverage Ratio (as defined in the 2031 Notes Indenture) exceeds 1.50 to 1.00 and we approve the declaration of a dividend, we
must offer to purchase a principal amount of 2031 Notes equal to the proposed amount of the dividend. This repurchase offer
requirement may make it impractical to declare and pay dividends at any time that the requirement is in effect. Stockholders
also should be aware that they have no contractual or other legal right to dividends that have not been declared.
Any determination by our Board of Directors regarding dividends will depend on a variety of factors, including our U.S.
GAAP net income, free cash flow generated from operations or other sources, liquidity position and potential alternative uses of
cash, such as acquisitions, as well as economic conditions and expected future financial results. There can be no guarantee
regarding the timing and amount of any dividends. Our ability to pay dividends in the future will depend on our future financial
performance, which, in turn, depends on the successful implementation of our strategy and on financial, competitive,
regulatory, technical and other factors, general economic conditions, demand and selling prices for our products, and other
factors specific to our industry or specific projects, many of which are beyond our control. Therefore, our ability to generate
free cash flow depends on the performance of our operations and could be limited by decreases in our profitability or increases
in costs, capital expenditures, or debt servicing requirements.
The percentage ownership of our existing stockholders may be diluted in the future, including upon conversion of the
2027 Notes and/or the 2031 Notes, and holders of the 2031 Notes may possess significant voting power following conversion
of the 2031 Notes.
We have issued and may continue to issue equity in order to raise capital or in connection with future acquisitions and
strategic investments, which would dilute investors' percentage ownership in the Company. In addition, a stockholder's
percentage ownership may be diluted if we issue equity-linked instruments, such as our 2027 Notes and 2031 Notes. Further,
the percentage ownership of our existing stockholders may be diluted in the future as a result of any issuances of our shares
upon exercise of any outstanding options, or issuances of shares under our equity incentive plans.
To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, a stockholder's
ownership interest in the Company may be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other
preferences that adversely affect a stockholder's rights. Debt and equity financings, if available, may involve agreements that
include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as redeeming our shares, making investments,
incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures, declaring dividends or placing limitations on our ability to acquire, sell
or license intellectual property rights.
The percentage ownership of our existing stockholders may be diluted in the future as result of the issuance of Common
Stock due to conversion of the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes. Each 2027 Note and each 2031 Note may be converted into
shares of Common Stock at an initial conversion rate of 200 shares of Common Stock per $1,000 principal amount of Notes
(subject to adjustment as provided in the Indenture, the "Conversion Rate"). Based on the number of shares outstanding on
February 14, 2025, conversion of all of the 2027 Notes and all of the 2031 Notes into Common Stock (assuming no adjustments
to the Conversion Rate) would result in the issuance of an aggregate of 52.4 million shares of the Common Stock representing
approximately 26% of the shares outstanding as of February 14, 2025 and conversion of all of the 2027 Notes and 2031 Notes
into Common Stock (assuming the maximum increase in the Conversion Rate as a result of certain events, including, subject to
exceptions as described in the Indenture, the acquisition of 50% or more of voting power of our securities by a person or group,
a stockholder-approved liquidation of us, the delisting of our Common Stock, or certain changes of control, but no other
adjustments to the Conversion Rate) would result in the issuance of an aggregate of 166.4 million shares of the Common Stock
representing approximately 53% of the shares outstanding as of February 14, 2025. To our knowledge, a majority in aggregate
principal amount of the outstanding 2031 Notes are held by entities controlled, managed or advised by a large financial sponsor.
In the event that a holder of a majority or even a significant portion of the 2031 Notes were to convert their notes into Common
Stock, such a holder could possess significant voting power with respect to our Common Stock and may have interests that are
different from, or adverse to, the interests of our other stockholders. From time to time, investors (including holders of a
significant portion of the 2031 Notes) may acquire additional 2031 Notes or shares of Common Stock, and we are unable to
predict or monitor such ownership.
Any sales in the public market of the Common Stock issuable upon such conversion could adversely affect prevailing
market prices of our Common Stock. In addition, the existence of the 2027 Notes and the 2031 Notes may encourage short
selling by market participants because the conversion of the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes could be used to satisfy short
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positions. Further, the anticipated possibility of conversion of the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes into shares of our Common
Stock could depress the price of our Common Stock.
An "ownership change" could limit our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes,
which could result in our payment of income taxes earlier than if we were able to fully utilize our net operating loss and
other tax benefit carryforwards.
Federal and state tax laws impose restrictions on the utilization of net operating loss ("NOL") carryforwards and other tax
attributes in the event of an "ownership change" as defined by Section 382 of the Code ("Section 382"). Generally, an
"ownership change" occurs if the percentage of the value of the stock that is owned by one or more direct or indirect "five
percent stockholders" increases by more than 50% over their lowest ownership percentage at any time during an applicable
testing period (typically, three years). Under Section 382, if a corporation undergoes an "ownership change," such corporation's
ability to use its pre-change NOL carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes to offset its income may be limited. While
no "ownership change" has resulted in annual limitations, future changes in our stock ownership, which may be outside of our
control, may trigger an "ownership change." In addition, future equity offerings or acquisitions that have equity as a component
of the consideration could result in an "ownership change." Furthermore, the issuance of Common Stock upon the conversion of
the 2031 Notes or the 2027 Notes (in the event we elect to issue Common Stock upon any such conversions, rather than cash),
may trigger an "ownership change." If an "ownership change" occurs in the future, utilization of our NOL carryforwards or
other tax attributes may be limited, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws and of Delaware
law may prevent or delay an acquisition of the Company, which could decrease the trading price of our Common Stock.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws and Delaware law contain
provisions that are intended to deter coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids by making such practices or bids
unacceptably expensive to the raider and to encourage prospective acquirers to negotiate with our Board of Directors rather than
to attempt a hostile takeover. These provisions provide for:
- Amendment of provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws
regarding the election of directors, the term of office of directors, the filling of director vacancies and the resignation
and removal of directors only upon the affirmative vote of at least 80% of the then issued and outstanding shares of
our capital stock entitled to vote thereon;
- Amendment of provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation regarding corporate opportunity
only upon the affirmative vote of at least 80% of the then issued and outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to
vote thereon;
- Removal of directors only for cause and only with the affirmative vote of at least 80% of the voting interest of
stockholders entitled to vote in the election of directors;
- Our Board of Directors to determine the powers, preferences and rights of our preferred stock and to issue such
preferred stock without stockholder approval;
- Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws prevent
stockholders from calling special meetings of our stockholders;
- Advance notice requirements applicable to stockholders for director nominations and actions to be taken at annual
meetings;
- A prohibition, in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, stating that no holder of shares of our Common
Stock will have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors, which means that the holders of majority of the
issued and outstanding shares of our Common Stock can elect all the directors standing for election; and
- Action by our stockholders outside a meeting, in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our
amended and restated bylaws, only by unanimous written consent.
Stockholders who might desire to participate in these types of transactions may not have an opportunity to do so, even if
the transaction is considered favorable to stockholders. These anti-takeover provisions could substantially impede the ability of
stockholders to benefit from a change in control or a change in our management and Board of Directors and, as a result, may
adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock and a stockholder's ability to realize any potential change of control
premium.
Our ability to compete may be materially and adversely affected if adequate capital is not available. In addition, future
offerings of debt securities, which would rank senior to our Common Stock upon our liquidation, and future offerings of
equity securities, which may be senior to our Common Stock for the purposes of dividend and liquidating distributions, may
be dilutive and materially and adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
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Our ability to be competitive in the marketplace is dependent on the availability of adequate capital. We may raise
additional capital through the issuance of debt or equity securities (including preferred stock) from time to time. There is no
guarantee that we will file or have an effective shelf registration statement on file with the SEC, which could impact our ability
to engage in future offerings and could impair our ability to raise additional capital quickly in response to changing
requirements and market conditions.
In addition, upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities (including holders of our 2031 Notes and 2027 Notes) and
preferred stock, if any, and lenders with respect to other borrowings (including the lenders under the 2029 Term Loan Facility)
will be entitled to our available assets prior to the holders of our Common Stock. Preferred stock could have a preference on
liquidating distributions or a preference on dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay dividends to the holders of our
Common Stock.
Because our decision to issue debt or equity securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other
factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, holders of
our Common Stock bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our Common Stock and diluting the value
of their holdings in our stock.
Cybersecurity
As filed, 7,716 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
Risk Management and Strategy
We recognize the importance of assessing, identifying, and managing material risks associated with cybersecurity threats
(as such term is defined in Item 106(a) of Regulation S-K), including, among other things, operational risks, intellectual
property theft, fraud, extortion, harm to employees or customers, violation of privacy or security laws and other litigation and
legal risks, and reputational risks.
We employ various processes and controls to aid in our efforts to identify, assess, and manage our material risks from
cybersecurity threats and to protect against, detect, and respond to cybersecurity incidents (as such term is defined in Item
106(a) of Regulation S-K). To identify and assess material risks from cybersecurity threats, we consider and gather information
with respect to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our information systems (as defined in Item 106(a) of
Regulation S-K). We have adopted policies and procedures that are designed to assist us with managing identified risks at a
system and organizational level and with assessing the materiality of the risk, its severity, and potential mitigations or
remediations. Our enterprise risk management program considers cybersecurity threat risks alongside other company risks as
part of our overall risk assessment process.
The cybersecurity risk identification process includes: (i) identifying information systems and assets, including physical
and virtual devices, software, data, data transfers, external systems, and cloud resources; (ii) reviewing organizational business
processes, identities, access, and roles (including privileged access), asset configurations, technology policies, standards,
controls, and processes; (iii) determining if those systems or assets process or store customer and/or employee personal data,
(iv) analyzing the criticality of systems, assets and business processes and sensitivity of data; and (v) identifying vulnerabilities
and threats to the identified systems, assets, data, and processes, from both internal and external sources, including through
threat intelligence, previous cybersecurity incidents, and third-party assessments.
Our processes also consider cybersecurity risks associated with our use of third-party service providers and business
partners, including those in our supply chain and those who have access to our customer and employee data or our information
systems. Identified third-party service provider and business partner risks are managed by our cybersecurity risk management
program. In addition, cybersecurity and privacy considerations affect the selection and oversight of our third-party service
providers and business partners, as well as third-party specific integration plans. Additionally, we generally require those third
parties that could introduce significant cybersecurity or data privacy risk to us to agree by contract to comply with applicable
data protection laws, and to manage their cybersecurity risks by implementing appropriate technical and organizational
measures, and to agree to be subject to cybersecurity audits, which we conduct as appropriate.
We employ a range of tools and services to inform our risk preparedness, identification, assessment and remediation
processes, including, among others, continuous monitoring, regular reoccurring security and compliance activities, training,
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threat intelligence, business processes, change management, strategic planning, annual assessments, and periodic testing and
assessments performed by qualified security personnel and by third-party firms. As part of the above-described processes, we
engage with third-party firms to perform independent assessments, including internal and external penetration tests,
configuration assessments, security plan and program assessments, compliance assessments, and incident response readiness
exercises to help identify areas for continued focus, improvement and/or compliance.
Identified risks are evaluated and assessed by the Company's security review council, comprised of various security,
technology, legal and privacy staff members and management. A member of management is assigned as the risk owner and
takes an active role in managing the risk, including approving the risk response and risk treatment plan, as well as participating
in assessing any residual risk after implementation of the treatment plan. Our Chief Information Security Officer oversees our
cybersecurity risk management program.
In the event of a potential material risk, the risk is reported to the Chief Information Security Officer, the Chief Technology
Officer, the Chief Privacy Officer and to the legal department and the appropriate member of senior management responsible
for the function where the risk has been identified. The risk is then reviewed by the Disclosure Committee, which includes
among others, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer, and Chief Accounting
Officer to determine whether the risk is material for disclosure purposes in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.
In 2024, our business strategy, results of operations, and financial condition were not materially affected by risks from
cybersecurity threats but we cannot provide assurance that they will not be materially affected in the future by such risks or any
future material incidents. We describe whether and how risks from identified cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any
previous cybersecurity incidents, have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our business
strategy, results of operations, or financial condition, under the heading "Risks Related to Cybersecurity and Artificial
Intelligence" under Risk Factors in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which disclosures are incorporated by reference herein.
Governance
Cybersecurity is an important part of our risk management processes and an area of increasing focus for our Board of
Directors and management. Our Board of Directors is responsible for the oversight of risks from cybersecurity threats. Each
quarter or as needed, the Board of Directors receives an overview from management of our cybersecurity program and strategy
covering topics such as cybersecurity incidents and response, progress towards pre-determined risk-mitigation-related goals,
results from third-party assessments, cybersecurity staffing, compliance status, and material cybersecurity threat risks or
incidents and developments, as well as the steps management has taken to respond to any such risks. In such sessions, our Chief
Information Security Officer is available to the Board of Directors to discuss any relevant cybersecurity matters. In addition, at
least bi-annually, the Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Technology Officer report to the Board of Directors about
cybersecurity threat risks, among other cybersecurity related matters.
Our cybersecurity risk management and strategy processes discussed above, are led by our Chief Information Security
Officer and Chief Technology Officer, both of whom are Certified Information Systems Security Professionals. Specifically,
our Chief Information Security Officer has approximately 10 years of experience developing cybersecurity strategy, incident
response, and implementing cybersecurity programs for public media companies and is a certified boardroom Qualified
Technology Expert and our Chief Technology Officer has approximately 16 years of experience developing cybersecurity
strategy, incident response, and implementing cybersecurity programs.
Properties
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Our corporate headquarters are located in New York, New York, where we lease approximately 24 thousand square feet,
under a lease agreement terminating in May 2031. We also have an executive office in Pittsford, New York, where we lease
approximately 7 thousand square feet, under a lease agreement terminating in December 2026.
Our domestic facilities, excluding our corporate headquarters above, occupy approximately 5.3 million square feet in the
aggregate, of which approximately 3.9 million square feet are leased from third parties. Many of our local media organizations
also have outside news bureaus, sales offices, and distribution centers that are leased from third parties. We own some of the
plants that house most aspects of the publication process but in certain locations have outsourced printing or combined the
printing of multiple publications.
Newsquest, our subsidiary headquartered in London, U.K., occupies approximately 450 thousand square feet in the U.K.
spread over 59 locations. Of this, approximately 300 thousand square feet spread over 48 locations are leased from third parties,
including three production facilities. Included in Newsquest's 11 owned premises is one production facility.
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Our digital marketing services companies under the brand LocaliQ is headquartered in Woodland Hills, California, and has
sales and other offices and data centers in two locations in two states: California and Texas. In addition, LocaliQ has 11
locations in four other countries: Australia, India, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. These properties include leased buildings
and data centers. In total, LocaliQ properties occupy approximately 160 thousand square feet. Excluded from total square
footage but included in location counts are serviced office spaces.
All of our material real properties owned by our material domestic subsidiaries are mortgaged as collateral for our 2029
Term Loan Facility, 2031 Notes and 2027 Notes. We believe our current facilities, including the terms and conditions of the
relevant lease agreements, are adequate to operate our businesses as currently conducted.
Legal proceedings
As filed, 229 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
Information regarding legal proceedings may be found in Note 13 — Commitments, contingencies and other matters —
Legal Proceedings of the notes to the Consolidated financial statements, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Management's discussion and analysis
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OPERATIONS
OVERVIEW
We are a diversified media company with expansive reach at the national and local level dedicated to empowering and
enriching communities. We seek to inspire, inform, and connect audiences as a sustainable, growth focused media and digital
marketing solutions company. Through our trusted brands, including the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national
publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations, including our network of local properties, in the United States (the
"U.S."), and Newsquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom (the "U.K."), we provide essential
journalism, local content, and digital experiences to audiences and businesses. We deliver high-quality, trusted content with a
commitment to balanced, unbiased journalism, where and when consumers want to engage. We prioritize a digital-first strategy,
focusing on audience growth and engagement while diversifying revenue streams. Our digital marketing solutions brand,
LocaliQ, supports small and medium-sized businesses ("SMBs") with innovative digital marketing products and solutions. Our
mission remains to inspire, inform, and connect communities while driving sustainable growth for our customers, advertisers,
partners, and shareholders.
We report in three segments: Domestic Gannett Media, Newsquest and Digital Marketing Solutions ("DMS"). We also
have a Corporate and other category that includes activities not directly attributable to a specific reportable segment and
includes broad corporate functions, such as legal, human resources, accounting, analytics, finance, marketing and technology,
as well as other general business costs. A full description of our reportable segments is included in Note 14 — Segment
reporting in the notes to the Consolidated financial statements.
Business Trends
We have considered several industry trends when assessing our business strategy:
- Print advertising and Print circulation revenues have and are expected to continue to decline as our audience
increasingly moves to digital platforms. We seek to optimize our print operations to efficiently manage for the
declining print audience. We are focused on growing a digitally-oriented audience across multiple platforms and
revenue streams.
- Our revenues and results of operations continue to be influenced by general macroeconomic conditions, including, but
not limited to, interest rates, housing demand, employment levels, and consumer confidence. We believe that these
factors are contributing to uncertainty, which is resulting in lower levels of advertising performance and reduced
spending.
- We rely on third-party platforms from large technology companies, particularly search engines, social media
platforms, and emerging technologies. These platforms exert significant control over the visibility and ranking of our
content, and their actions can adversely impact traffic, engagement, and revenues. Additionally, these companies can
influence both the type of media we acquire and the associated costs. We continue to adapt by diversifying our digital
strategies and optimizing content distribution to mitigate these impacts.
- The application of artificial intelligence ("AI") and the rapid rate of change within the AI ecosystem is increasing the
pace of change in the media sector.
Certain Matters Affecting Comparability
The following items affect period-over-period comparisons and will continue to affect period-over-period comparisons for
future results:
Asset impairments
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we recorded impairment charges of $46.6 million, of which approximately
$46.0 million related to the McLean, Virginia operating lease right-of-use asset and the associated leasehold improvements. For
the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we recorded impairment charges of $1.4 million and $1.1 million related to our
plan to monetize non-strategic assets.
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Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets, net
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we recognized a net loss on the sale of assets of $1.1 million, primarily related to
net losses of $1.7 million at the Domestic Gannett Media segment and $0.2 million at our Corporate and other category,
partially offset by a net gain of $0.9 million at the Newsquest segment, as part of our plan to monetize non-strategic assets.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, we recognized a net gain on the sale of assets of $40.1 million, primarily related to
a net gain of $38.9 million at the Domestic Gannett Media segment due to the sales of production facilities as part of our plan to
monetize non-strategic assets, and a gain of $1.4 million at our Corporate and other category related to the sale of intellectual
property.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we recognized a net gain on the sale of assets of $6.9 million, primarily related to a
net gain of $6.7 million at the Domestic Gannett Media segment, mainly driven by the sales of production facilities as part of
our plan to monetize non-strategic assets.
Integration and reorganization costs
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we incurred Integration and reorganization costs of $66.2 million. Of the total costs
incurred, $15.1 million were related to severance activities and $51.0 million were related to other reorganization-related costs,
including $24.5 million related to withdrawal liabilities, generally paid over a period of approximately 20 years, which were
expensed as a result of ceasing contributions to multiemployer pension plans, and $9.7 million expensed as of the cease-use
date related to certain licensed content, as well as costs associated with facility consolidation and systems implementation.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, we incurred Integration and reorganization costs of $24.5 million. Of the total costs
incurred, $18.5 million were related to severance activities and $6.0 million were related to other costs, including costs for
consolidating operations, primarily related to costs associated with systems implementation and the outsourcing of corporate
functions, partially offset by the reversal of withdrawal liabilities related to multiemployer pension plans of $6.4 million based
on settlement of the withdrawal liabilities.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we incurred Integration and reorganization costs of $88.0 million. Of the total costs
incurred, $57.6 million were related to severance activities and $30.4 million were related to other costs, including a withdrawal
liability related to multiemployer pension plans of $8.6 million, which was expensed as a result of ceasing contributions, costs
for consolidating operations, primarily related to systems implementation and the outsourcing of corporate functions, and
facilities consolidation expenses, primarily associated with exiting a lease.
Foreign currency
Our U.K. media operations are conducted through our Newsquest subsidiary. In addition, we have foreign operations in
regions such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India. Earnings from operations in foreign regions are translated into U.S.
dollars at average exchange rates prevailing during the period, and assets and liabilities are translated at exchange rates in effect
at the balance sheet date. Currency translation fluctuations may impact revenue, expense, and operating income results for our
international operations. For example, our international revenues are favorably impacted as the U.S. dollar weakens relative to
other foreign currencies, and unfavorably impacted as the U.S. dollar strengthens relative to other foreign currencies. Foreign
currency exchange rate fluctuations positively impacted our revenues and profitability during the year ended December 31,
Strategy
We are committed to inspiring, informing and connecting audiences as a sustainable, growth-focused media and digital
marketing solutions company. Our strategy is rooted in three operating pillars: (i) expanding our reach and engagement, (ii)
diversifying our digital revenues, and (iii) strengthening our capital structure, all supported by what we believe is a stable and
increasingly agile foundation which we continue to optimize as the business and industry evolves. We believe our strategy will
allow us to continue our evolution to a sustainable, growth-focused media and digital marketing solutions company.
Foundation for ongoing growth
We continue to optimize and improve our infrastructure – through ongoing systems consolidations and migrations,
improving process workflows, leveraging evolving technology, and ensuring we have the synergy across the organization
expected to deliver the stabilization required to fuel our plan into the future. We also continue to invest in our people and in the
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skills needed to support our future aims and to retain our talent by remaining an attractive place to work.
Three operating pillars
Expand reach and engagement with our customer segments
We believe that a key to our ongoing growth is expanding our base – including clients in our DMS segment and audience
in our Domestic Gannett Media and Newsquest segments – and optimizing our revenue streams across this growing base.
As of December 31, 2024, we have built one of the largest digital audiences in the U.S. media sector, both locally and
nationally. For both the Domestic Gannett Media and Newsquest segments, we seek to continue to strengthen the connection
with our audience by providing relevant content and expanded offerings that resonate with our readers. We believe a scaled,
engaged audience is the catalyst for creating diversified, predictable, and repeatable digital revenues.
In our DMS segment, we seek to enhance our customer acquisition efforts by targeting client profiles and broadening our
product portfolio. By capitalizing on our domain expertise, we aim to grow our addressable market and provide comprehensive
solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients.
Diversify digital revenues
We expect to continue to expand the ways that we grow digital revenues through creating a diverse portfolio of meaningful
digital revenue streams and employing a holistic monetization strategy that maximizes revenue opportunities across the
spectrum and tailors such opportunities based on individual consumer habits.
Our strategy aims to allow us to more fully monetize the numerous visitors to our digital platforms, approximately
193 million(a)(b) unique monthly visitors during 2024, capitalizing on every interaction. Each interaction is an opportunity to
present a digital advertising offering, a digital-only subscription, an e-commerce opportunity, or to reach consumers more
broadly who access our content via our paid syndication partners. By optimizing our interactions with readers, we aim to fully
leverage our digital portfolio of products and maximize the overall revenue opportunity while providing each consumer with a
meaningful experience.
Likewise, our digital marketing solutions business is focused on optimizing and expanding our core digital marketing
services products and solutions while enhancing our portfolio with an Artificial Intelligence ("AI") powered software solution,
which we expect to increase our addressable market, improve retention, and increase Core platform revenues. Refer to "Key
Performance Indicators" below for further discussion of Core platform revenues.
Strengthen our capital structure
We remain focused on reducing debt, generating consistent cash flow, and creating flexibility to reinvest in growth
initiatives. We believe this disciplined approach supports our ability to innovate and adapt while ensuring long-term financial
health.
Macroeconomic Environment
We are exposed to certain risks and uncertainties caused by factors beyond our control, including economic and political
instability and other geopolitical events. We believe that these uncertain economic conditions have adversely impacted and may
continue to have an adverse impact on our revenues, and the occurrence of these factors has resulted in a reduction in demand
for our print and digital advertising, reduced the rates for our advertising, and caused marketers to shift, reduce or stop spend.
We are exposed to potential increases in interest rates associated with our new $900.0 million five-year first lien term loan
facility (the "2029 Term Loan Facility"), which as of December 31, 2024, accounted for approximately 76% of our outstanding
debt, as well as fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily related to our operations in the U.K. We expect
continued uncertainty and volatility in the U.S. and global economies which will continue to impact our business. See "Item 1A
- Risk Factors" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Seasonality
We experience seasonality in our revenues. The Domestic Gannett Media segment typically witnesses the greatest impact
from seasonality in the third quarter, primarily attributed to reduced population in seasonal markets and decreased holiday
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related spending. The DMS segment generally experiences the greatest impact from seasonality in the first half of the fiscal
year, which can be attributed to the advertising needs of specific verticals, which are generally lower in the first half of the year.
Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") Initiatives
As a leading media organization, our longstanding corporate social responsibility position is driven by our deep
commitment to our communities. We are dedicated to ensuring that we have mindful and ethical business practices that
positively impact our world. In early 2024, we published our 2024 ESG Report detailing the progress we made on our U.N.
Sustainable Development Goals ("U.N. SDGs") that include Reduced Inequalities, Climate Action, and Peace, Justice, and
Strong Institutions. The 2024 ESG Report highlighted several key achievements, such as improvements to our workplace
diversity, further reductions in our total paper consumption, and the successful completion of our inaugural climate disclosure
project questionnaires for climate change and forests.
We are committed to ensuring our coverage is widely available, actively promoted across our media sites and marketed to
our millions of registered users. In January 2025, we published our network-wide 2024 Journalism Impact Report, which
highlighted what we believe are the most influential articles we produced in 2024 and covers topics such as coverage on
inclusion, diversity and equity as well as climate change. We are committed to the ongoing publishing of an annual network-
wide Journalism Impact Report, which surfaces the top stories we produced that led to action.
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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Consolidated Summary
A summary of our consolidated results is presented below:
In thousands, except per share amounts
| Revenues: | Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | 2022 | $ Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital advertising | $346,378 | $333,611 | $12,767 | 4% | $357,346 | $(23,735) | (7)% |
| Digital marketing services(a) | 476,049 | 476,958 | (909) | —% | 467,909 | 9,049 | 2% |
| Digital-only subscription | 188,828 | 155,621 | 33,207 | 21% | 132,618 | 23,003 | 17% |
| Digital other | 92,396 | 84,180 | 8,216 | 10% | 80,707 | 3,473 | 4% |
| Digital | 1,103,651 | 1,050,370 | 53,281 | 5% | 1,038,580 | 11,790 | 1% |
| Print advertising | 525,800 | 576,545 | (50,745) | (9)% | 670,882 | (94,337) | (14)% |
| Print circulation | 650,047 | 772,200 | (122,153) | (16)% | 952,019 | (179,819) | (19)% |
| Commercial and other(b) | 229,817 | 264,435 | (34,618) | (13)% | 283,822 | (19,387) | (7)% |
| Print and commercial | 1,405,664 | 1,613,180 | (207,516) | (13)% | 1,906,723 | (293,543) | (15)% |
| Total revenues | 2,509,315 | 2,663,550 | (154,235) | (6)% | 2,945,303 | (281,753) | (10)% |
| Total operating expenses(a) | 2,552,153 | 2,577,279 | (25,126) | (1)% | 2,978,902 | (401,623) | (13)% |
| Operating (loss) income | (42,838) | 86,271 | (129,109) | *** | (33,599) | 119,870 | *** |
| Non-operating expenses | 34,835 | 92,436 | (57,601) | (62)% | 43,307 | 49,129 | *** |
| Loss before income taxes | (77,673) | (6,165) | (71,508) | *** | (76,906) | 70,741 | (92)% |
| (Benefit) provision for income taxes | (51,286) | 21,729 | (73,015) | *** | 1,349 | 20,380 | *** |
| Net loss | (26,387) | (27,894) | 1,507 | (5)% | (78,255) | 50,361 | (64)% |
| Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests | (33) | (103) | 70 | (68)% | (253) | 150 | (59)% |
| Net loss attributable to Gannett | $(26,354) | $(27,791) | $1,437 | (5)% | $(78,002) | $50,211 | (64)% |
| Loss per share attributable to Gannett - basic | $(0.18) | $(0.20) | $0.02 | (10)% | $(0.57) | $0.37 | (65)% |
| Loss per share attributable to Gannett - diluted | $(0.18) | $(0.20) | $0.02 | (10)% | $(0.57) | $0.37 | (65)% |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
(a) Amounts are net of intersegment eliminations of $151.8 million, $150.5 million and $143.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022,
respectively, which represent digital marketing services revenues and expenses associated with products sold by sales teams in our Domestic Gannett
Media and Newsquest segments but fulfilled by our DMS segment. When discussing segment results, these revenues and expenses are presented gross but
are eliminated in consolidation.
(b) For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, included Commercial printing and delivery revenues of $152.0 million, $186.1 million, and
$211.8 million, respectively.
Revenues
Digital revenues are primarily derived from digital advertising offerings such as digital marketing services generated
through multiple services, including search advertising, display advertising, search optimization, social media, website
development, web presence products, customer relationship management, and software-as-a-service solutions, classified
advertisements and display advertisements, which may leverage third-party providers, and digital distribution of our
publications, as well as digital content syndication, affiliate and content partnerships, and licensing revenues.
Print and commercial revenues are generated from the sale of local, national, and classified print advertising products, the
sale of both home delivery and single copies of our publications, as well as commercial printing and distribution arrangements,
and revenues from our events business.
Operating expenses
Operating expenses consist primarily of the following:
47
- Operating costs at the Domestic Gannett Media and Newsquest segments include labor, newsprint, delivery and digital
costs and at the DMS segment include the cost of online media acquired from third parties and costs to manage and
operate our marketing solutions and technology infrastructure;
- Selling, general and administrative expenses include labor, payroll, outside services, benefits costs and bad debt
expense;
- Depreciation and amortization;
- Integration and reorganization costs include severance costs as well as other reorganization costs associated with
individual restructuring programs, designed primarily to right-size our employee base, consolidate facilities and
improve operations;
- Impairment charges, including costs incurred related to goodwill, intangible assets and property, plant, and equipment;
- Gains or losses on the sale or disposal of assets; and
- Other operating expenses, including third-party debt expenses as well as acquisition-related costs.
Refer to Segment results below for a discussion of the results of operations by segment.
Non-operating expenses (income)
Interest expense: For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, Interest expense was $104.7 million, $111.8
million and $108.4 million, respectively.
The decrease in interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023, was primarily due to quarterly
amortization payments and required prepayments on our prior five-year senior secured term loan facility in an original
aggregate principal amount of $516.0 million (the "Senior Secured Term Loan"), and the repurchase of our $400 million
aggregate principal amount of 6.00% first lien notes due November 1, 2026 (the "2026 Senior Notes"). The Senior Secured
Term Loan was refinanced and replaced on October 15, 2024 with our 2029 Term Loan Facility (collectively with the Senior
Secured Term Loan, the "Term Loans"). The decrease in interest expense was partially offset by payments made on our 2029
Term Loan Facility and an increase in interest rates on the Senior Secured Term Loan.
The increase in interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 2022, was primarily due to the impact
of the increase in interest rates on our Senior Secured Term Loan, partially offset by a lower debt balance, mainly driven by
quarterly amortization payments on our Senior Secured Term Loan and repurchases of our 2026 Senior Notes.
Gain on early extinguishment of debt: For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, we recognized net gains on
the early extinguishment of debt of $55.6 million, $4.5 million and $0.4 million, respectively, mainly due to our debt
refinancing transactions. Refer to Note 8 — Debt for additional discussion regarding our debt.
Non-operating pension income: For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, Non-operating pension income
was $12.4 million, $9.4 million and $59.0 million, respectively. The increase in Non-operating pension income for the year
ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily due to the decrease in the discount rate, partially offset by a decline
in the projected benefit obligation. The decrease in Non-operating pension income for the year ended December 31, 2023
compared to 2022 was primarily due to a decrease in the expected return on plan assets, mainly driven by a decrease in assets
following the annuity contract entered into during 2022, related to the Gannett Retirement Plan (the "GR Plan").
Equity income in unconsolidated investees, net: For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, Equity income in
unconsolidated investees, net was $0.5 million, $2.4 million and $3.4 million, respectively.
Other non-operating income, net: Other non-operating income, net consisted of certain items that are outside of our normal
business operations. For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, we recorded Other non-operating income, net of
$1.3 million, $3.1 million and $2.3 million, respectively.
48
(Benefit) provision for income taxes
The following table summarizes our pre-tax net loss before income taxes and income tax accounts:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loss before income taxes | $(77,673) | $(6,165) | $(76,906) |
| (Benefit) provision for income taxes | (51,286) | 21,729 | 1,349 |
| Effective tax rate | 66.0% | NM | (1.8)% |
NM indicates not meaningful.
Our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2024 was 66.0%. The tax benefit for 2024 was primarily impacted by
the release of uncertain tax position reserves related to an Internal Revenue Service audit, the release of foreign valuation
allowances, debt refinancing transactions and the pre-tax book loss, partially offset by the increase in valuation allowances on
non-deductible U.S. interest expense carryforwards and global intangible low-taxed income inclusion. Refer to Note 8 — Debt
for additional discussion regarding our debt.
Our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2023 was not meaningful. The tax provision for 2023 was primarily
impacted by the valuation allowances on non-deductible U.S. interest expense carryforwards, the global intangible low-taxed
income inclusion from our U.K. operations, nondeductible compensation, and state and local tax expense, partially offset by the
benefit from the pre-tax book loss.
Our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2022 was negative 1.8%. The tax provision for 2022 was primarily
impacted by the valuation allowances on non-deductible U.S. interest expense carryforwards, the global intangible low-taxed
income inclusion, the release of uncertain tax positions in the U.S., and the reduction in the blended state tax rate, which were
offset by the tax benefit of the pre-tax book loss.
Net loss attributable to Gannett and diluted loss per share attributable to Gannett
Net loss attributable to Gannett and diluted loss per share attributable to Gannett were $26.4 million and $0.18 for the year
ended December 31, 2024, respectively, $27.8 million and $0.20 for the year ended December 31, 2023, respectively, and $78.0
million and $0.57 for the year ended December 31, 2022, respectively. The changes reflect the various items discussed above
and below in "Segment Results."
Segment Results
49
Domestic Gannett Media segment 2024 compared to 2023
A summary of our Domestic Gannett Media segment results comparing the year ended December 31, 2024 to the year
ended December 31, 2023 is presented below:
In thousands
| Revenues: | Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital | $692,714 | $641,743 | $50,971 | 8% |
| Print and commercial | 1,245,684 | 1,454,110 | (208,426) | (14%) |
| Total revenues | 1,938,398 | 2,095,853 | (157,455) | (8%) |
| Operating expenses: | ||||
| Operating costs | 1,211,817 | 1,362,815 | (150,998) | (11%) |
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 524,868 | 540,843 | (15,975) | (3%) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 96,478 | 112,201 | (15,723) | (14%) |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 49,625 | 5,582 | 44,043 | *** |
| Asset impairments | 600 | 1,370 | (770) | (56%) |
| Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets, net | 1,682 | (38,937) | 40,619 | *** |
| Other operating (income) expenses | (140) | 139 | (279) | *** |
| Total operating expenses | 1,884,930 | 1,984,013 | (99,083) | (5%) |
| Operating income | $53,468 | $111,840 | $(58,372) | (52%) |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
Revenues
The following table provides the breakout of Revenues by category for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital advertising | $292,897 | $283,249 | $9,648 | 3% |
| Digital marketing services | 142,120 | 140,589 | 1,531 | 1% |
| Digital-only subscription | 181,670 | 150,384 | 31,286 | 21% |
| Digital other | 76,027 | 67,521 | 8,506 | 13% |
| Digital | 692,714 | 641,743 | 50,971 | 8% |
| Print advertising | 451,589 | 501,701 | (50,112) | (10%) |
| Print circulation | 582,965 | 704,158 | (121,193) | (17%) |
| Commercial and other(a) | 211,130 | 248,251 | (37,121) | (15%) |
| Print and commercial | 1,245,684 | 1,454,110 | (208,426) | (14%) |
| Total revenues | $1,938,398 | $2,095,853 | $(157,455) | (8%) |
(a) For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, included Commercial printing and delivery revenues of $141.8 million and $178.1 million, respectively.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Digital advertising revenues increased compared to 2023, primarily due to an
increase in national revenues, including sponsored link and programmatic revenue, as well as higher spend on automotive
advertisements, partially offset by a decrease in local revenues and lower spend on employment and obituary notifications.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Digital marketing services revenues increased compared to 2023, primarily due to
an increase in client spend.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Digital-only subscription revenues increased compared to 2023, primarily due to
an increase in digital-only subscription average revenue per user ("Digital-only ARPU") of 21.2%, mainly due to higher rates.
Refer to "Key Performance Indicators" below for further discussion of Digital-only ARPU.
50
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Digital other revenues increased compared to 2023, primarily due to an increase in
affiliate and syndication revenues, partially offset by the absences of revenues associated with non-core products which were
sunset.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Print advertising revenues decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to a decrease
in local and national print advertisements and lower advertiser inserts, mainly due to a reduction in spend from customers
driven by macroeconomic factors, and lower spend on classified advertisements, mainly associated with obituary notifications
and real estate advertisements.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Print circulation revenues decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to a decline
in home delivery and single copy as a result of a reduction in the volume of subscribers, partially offset by higher rates on home
delivery and single copy.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Commercial and other revenues decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to a
decrease in commercial print and delivery revenues, driven by the decline in production volume, including the impact of a
business divested in 2024 and facility closures as well as a decrease in the price of newsprint.
Operating expenses
The following table provides the breakout of Operating costs for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsprint and ink | $67,833 | $99,760 | $(31,927) | (32%) |
| Distribution | 276,069 | 323,750 | (47,681) | (15%) |
| Compensation and benefits | 375,008 | 393,196 | (18,188) | (5%) |
| Outside services | 305,593 | 326,695 | (21,102) | (6%) |
| Other | 187,314 | 219,414 | (32,100) | (15%) |
| Total operating costs | $1,211,817 | $1,362,815 | $(150,998) | (11%) |
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Newsprint and ink costs decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to lower
volume due to the decline in revenues, as well as a decrease in the cost of newsprint of approximately $12.8 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Distribution costs decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to a decrease of
$55.6 million associated with lower home delivery and single copy revenues, and the conversion to mail and route optimization,
partially offset by an increase in postage costs of $7.9 million, mainly due to conversion to mail delivery in multiple markets, as
well as higher postage costs associated with increased revenue for direct mail.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Compensation and benefits costs decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to
lower payroll expense of $15.9 million, mainly driven by a decrease in headcount tied to ongoing cost control initiatives,
including facility closures and conversion to mail delivery in multiple markets, partially offset by higher wages, and to a lesser
extent, lower employee benefit costs of $2.3 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Outside services costs, which includes professional services fulfilled by third
parties, media fees and other digital costs, and paid search and ad serving services, decreased compared to 2023, primarily due
to a decrease in news and editorial expenses of $13.1 million, mainly due to the cease-use of certain licensed content, a decrease
in event related expenses of approximately $5.1 million, mainly due to the decline in revenues, and a decrease in third-party
media fees of approximately $3.7 million, partially offset by an increase in outside printing costs of $3.9 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Other costs decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to lower facility related
expenses of $17.0 million, mainly associated with real estate sales and facility consolidations, as well as lower miscellaneous
expenses of $15.8 million, mainly related to lower technology costs, partially offset by higher promotion costs of approximately
$0.7 million.
The following table provides the breakout of Selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December
31, 2024 and 2023:
51
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation and benefits | $251,441 | $255,491 | $(4,050) | (2%) |
| Outside services and other | 273,427 | 285,352 | (11,925) | (4%) |
| Total selling, general and administrative expenses | $524,868 | $540,843 | $(15,975) | (3%) |
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Compensation and benefits costs decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to
lower payroll expense of $2.2 million, driven by lower commissions related to revenue performance as well as a decrease in
headcount tied to ongoing cost control initiatives, and to a lesser extent, lower employee benefit costs of $1.8 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Outside services and other costs, which include services fulfilled by third parties,
decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to lower bad debt expense of approximately $6.3 million, and lower miscellaneous
expenses of approximately $5.6 million, including lower product and finance costs, partially offset by higher promotion and
technology costs.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Depreciation and amortization expense decreased compared to 2023, reflecting the
impact of fewer print facilities in 2024 compared to 2023.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Integration and reorganization costs increased compared to 2023, mainly due to an
increase in other reorganization-related costs of $42.4 million and an increase in severance costs of $1.6 million. For the year
ended December 31, 2024, the change in other reorganization-related costs was primarily due to $25.9 million related to
withdrawal liabilities which were expensed as a result of ceasing contributions to multiemployer pension plans, $9.7 million
expensed as of the cease-use date related to certain licensed content, and the absence of $6.4 million related to the reversal of
withdrawal liabilities in 2023 related to multiemployer pension plans based on settlement of the withdrawal liability.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we recognized a net loss on the sale of assets of $1.7 million compared to a net
gain of $38.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, primarily related to sales of production facilities as part of our
plan to monetize non-strategic assets.
Domestic Gannett Media segment Adjusted EBITDA
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income attributable to Gannett | $61,333 | $114,254 | $(52,921) | (46%) |
| Non-operating pension income | (5,021) | (705) | (4,316) | *** |
| Depreciation and amortization | 96,478 | 112,201 | (15,723) | (14%) |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 49,625 | 5,582 | 44,043 | *** |
| Third-party debt expenses and acquisition costs | — | 139 | (139) | (100%) |
| Asset impairments | 600 | 1,370 | (770) | (56%) |
| Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets, net | 1,682 | (38,937) | 40,619 | *** |
| Other non-operating (income) expense, net | (2,263) | 773 | (3,036) | *** |
| Non-recurring items | (13) | (36) | 23 | (64%) |
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP basis)(a) | $202,421 | $194,641 | $7,780 | 4% |
| Net income attributable to Gannett margin | 3.2% | 5.5% | ||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin (non-GAAP basis)(a)(b) | 10.4% | 9.3% |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
(a) See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for additional information about non-GAAP financial performance measures.
(b) We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total Revenues.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, the increase in Domestic Gannett Media segment Adjusted EBITDA compared to
2023 was primarily attributable to the changes discussed above.
52
Domestic Gannett Media segment 2023 compared to 2022
A summary of our Domestic Gannett Media segment results comparing the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year
ended December 31, 2022 is presented below:
In thousands
| Revenues: | Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital | $641,743 | $633,103 | $8,640 | 1% |
| Print and commercial | 1,454,110 | 1,746,703 | (292,593) | (17%) |
| Total revenues | 2,095,853 | 2,379,806 | (283,953) | (12%) |
| Operating expenses: | ||||
| Operating costs | 1,362,815 | 1,544,708 | (181,893) | (12%) |
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 540,843 | 631,414 | (90,571) | (14%) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 112,201 | 130,557 | (18,356) | (14%) |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 5,582 | 55,575 | (49,993) | (90%) |
| Asset impairments | 1,370 | 1,056 | 314 | 30% |
| Gain on sale or disposal of assets, net | (38,937) | (6,738) | (32,199) | *** |
| Other operating expenses | 139 | 2 | 137 | *** |
| Total operating expenses | 1,984,013 | 2,356,574 | (372,561) | (16%) |
| Operating income | $111,840 | $23,232 | $88,608 | *** |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
Revenues
The following table provides the breakout of Revenues by category for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital advertising | $283,249 | $306,456 | $(23,207) | (8%) |
| Digital marketing services | 140,589 | 133,219 | 7,370 | 6% |
| Digital-only subscription | 150,384 | 127,671 | 22,713 | 18% |
| Digital other | 67,521 | 65,757 | 1,764 | 3% |
| Digital | 641,743 | 633,103 | 8,640 | 1% |
| Print advertising | 501,701 | 594,741 | (93,040) | (16%) |
| Print circulation | 704,158 | 884,854 | (180,696) | (20%) |
| Commercial and other(a) | 248,251 | 267,108 | (18,857) | (7%) |
| Print and commercial | 1,454,110 | 1,746,703 | (292,593) | (17%) |
| Total revenues | $2,095,853 | $2,379,806 | $(283,953) | (12%) |
(a) For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, included Commercial printing and delivery revenues of $178.1 million and $204.8 million, respectively.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Digital advertising revenues decreased compared to 2022, driven by decreases in
both domestic national and local revenue volumes and a reduction in digital advertising demand as a result of a more
challenging macroeconomic environment, including declining CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) and lower spend on
employment and obituary notifications, partially offset by higher spend on automotive advertisements.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Digital marketing services revenues increased compared to 2022, primarily due to
an increase in rates, partially offset by a decrease in client counts.
53
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Digital-only subscription revenues increased compared to 2022, due to an increase
in Digital-only ARPU of 7.8%, mainly due to product mix. Refer to "Key Performance Indicators" below for further discussion
of Digital-only ARPU.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Digital other revenues increased compared to 2022, primarily due to an increase in
affiliate and partnership revenues, partially offset by a decline in digital syndication revenues.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Print advertising revenues decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to a decrease
in advertiser inserts, mainly due to volume declines, a decrease in local and national print advertisements, mainly due to the
ongoing decline associated with secular trends and both a shift and a reduction in spend from customers driven by
macroeconomic factors, and lower spend on classified advertisements, mainly driven by lower spend on obituary notifications
and real estate advertisements, partially offset by an increase in spend on employment advertisements. In addition, the decrease
in Print advertising revenues was also due to the absence in 2023 of revenues of $31.3 million associated with both businesses
divested and non-core products which were sunset in 2023 and 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Print circulation revenues decreased compared to 2022, due to a decline in home
delivery as a result of a reduction in the volume of subscribers, partially offset by an increase in rates, as well as a decline in
single copy due to a reduction in volume. In addition, the decrease in Print circulation revenues was due to the absence in 2023
of revenues of $6.8 million associated with non-core products which were sunset in 2023 and 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Commercial and other revenues decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to a
decline in commercial print volume, partially offset by an increase in event revenues, mainly driven by an increase in
registration fees and higher merchandising revenues, driven by higher attendance, partially offset by slightly fewer events.
Operating expenses
The following table provides the breakout of Operating costs for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsprint and ink | $99,760 | $129,077 | $(29,317) | (23%) |
| Distribution | 323,750 | 370,594 | (46,844) | (13%) |
| Compensation and benefits | 393,196 | 487,868 | (94,672) | (19%) |
| Outside services | 326,695 | 333,137 | (6,442) | (2%) |
| Other | 219,414 | 224,032 | (4,618) | (2%) |
| Total operating costs | $1,362,815 | $1,544,708 | $(181,893) | (12%) |
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Newsprint and ink costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to a decline
associated with lower revenues, partially offset by an increase of $2.4 million driven by the change in the cost of newsprint.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Distribution costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to a decrease of
$51.2 million associated with lower home delivery and single copy revenues, partially offset by an increase of $4.4 million,
driven by higher postage costs primarily due to conversion to mail delivery in multiple markets. Included in the decline of
Distribution costs was the absence in 2023 of expenses of $16.8 million associated with both businesses divested and non-core
products which were sunset in 2023 and 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Compensation and benefits costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to
lower payroll expense of $69.5 million, driven by a decrease in headcount tied to ongoing cost control initiatives, including
facility closures and conversion to mail delivery in multiple markets, and to a lesser extent, lower employee benefit costs of
$25.1 million, mainly due to a decrease in insurance costs due to a decrease in headcount and a decline in employer 401(k) plan
matching contributions, which were suspended in the third quarter of 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Outside services costs, which includes professional services fulfilled by third
parties, media fees and other digital costs, and paid search and ad serving services, decreased compared to 2022, primarily due
to a decrease of $12.4 million in various expenses, including costs related to news and editorial, professional services, outside
printing, and software licensing, partially offset by an increase of $6.0 million in third-party media fees.
54
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Other costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to lower facility related
expenses associated with real estate sales and lower promotion expenses.
The following table provides the breakout of Selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December
31, 2023 and 2022:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation and benefits | $255,491 | $289,761 | $(34,270) | (12%) |
| Outside services and other | 285,352 | 341,653 | (56,301) | (16%) |
| Total selling, general and administrative expenses | $540,843 | $631,414 | $(90,571) | (14%) |
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Compensation and benefits costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to
lower payroll expense of $24.0 million, driven by a decrease in headcount tied to ongoing cost control initiatives and lower
commissions related to revenue performance, and to a lesser extent, lower employee benefit costs of $10.3 million, including a
decrease in employer 401(k) plan matching contributions, which were suspended in the third quarter of 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Outside services and other costs, which include services fulfilled by third parties,
decreased compared to 2022, due to a decrease in costs related to technology, promotions, and professional services.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Depreciation and amortization expense decreased compared to 2022, reflecting the
impact of fewer print facilities in 2023 compared to 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Integration and reorganization costs decreased compared to 2022, mainly due to a
decrease in severance costs of $30.7 million and a decrease in other reorganization-related costs of $19.3 million. The decrease
in other costs was primarily due to the reversal of withdrawal liabilities related to multiemployer pension plans of $6.4 million
based on settlement of the withdrawal liability, and the absence in 2023 of an accrual of $8.6 million made in 2022 related to a
multiemployer pension plan, as well as lower facility and consolidation costs in 2023 compared to 2022.
For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we recognized net gains on the sale of assets of $38.9 million and
$6.7 million, respectively, primarily related to sales of production facilities as part of our plan to monetize non-strategic assets.
Domestic Gannett Media segment Adjusted EBITDA
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income attributable to Gannett | $114,254 | $63,225 | $51,029 | 81% |
| Non-operating pension income | (705) | (35,921) | 35,216 | (98%) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 112,201 | 130,557 | (18,356) | (14%) |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 5,582 | 55,575 | (49,993) | (90%) |
| Third-party debt expenses and acquisition costs | 139 | 2 | 137 | *** |
| Asset impairments | 1,370 | 1,056 | 314 | 30% |
| Gain on sale or disposal of assets, net | (38,937) | (6,738) | (32,199) | *** |
| Other non-operating expense (income), net | 773 | (398) | 1,171 | *** |
| Non-recurring items | (36) | 290 | (326) | *** |
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP basis)(a) | $194,641 | $207,648 | $(13,007) | (6%) |
| Net income attributable to Gannett margin | 5.5% | 2.7% | ||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin (non-GAAP basis)(a)(b) | 9.3% | 8.7% |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
(a) See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for additional information about non-GAAP financial performance measures.
(b) We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total Revenues.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, the decrease in Domestic Gannett Media segment Adjusted EBITDA compared to
2022 was primarily attributable to the changes discussed above. In addition, for the year ended December 31, 2023, the
decrease in Non-operating pension income compared to 2022 was primarily due to a decrease in the expected return on plan
assets mainly driven by a decrease in assets following the annuity contract entered into during 2022 related to the GR Plan.
55
Newsquest segment 2024 compared to 2023
A summary of our Newsquest segment results comparing the year ended December 31, 2024 to the year ended December
31, 2023 is presented below:
In thousands
| Revenues: | Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital | $79,293 | $74,910 | $4,383 | 6% |
| Print and commercial | 159,980 | 159,070 | 910 | 1% |
| Total revenues | 239,273 | 233,980 | 5,293 | 2% |
| Operating expenses: | ||||
| Operating costs | 122,995 | 120,264 | 2,731 | 2% |
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 63,257 | 63,947 | (690) | (1%) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 8,485 | 8,792 | (307) | (3%) |
| Integration and reorganization (reversal) costs | (513) | 1,763 | (2,276) | *** |
| Gain on sale or disposal of assets, net | (894) | (42) | (852) | *** |
| Other operating (income) expenses | (410) | 215 | (625) | *** |
| Total operating expenses | 192,920 | 194,939 | (2,019) | (1%) |
| Operating income | $46,353 | $39,041 | $7,312 | 19% |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
Revenues
The following table provides the breakout of Revenues by category for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital advertising | $53,481 | $50,362 | $3,119 | 6% |
| Digital marketing services | 7,941 | 8,920 | (979) | (11%) |
| Digital-only subscription | 7,158 | 5,237 | 1,921 | 37% |
| Digital other | 10,713 | 10,391 | 322 | 3% |
| Digital | 79,293 | 74,910 | 4,383 | 6% |
| Print advertising | 74,211 | 74,844 | (633) | (1%) |
| Print circulation | 67,082 | 68,042 | (960) | (1%) |
| Commercial and other(a) | 18,687 | 16,184 | 2,503 | 15% |
| Print and commercial | 159,980 | 159,070 | 910 | 1% |
| Total revenues | $239,273 | $233,980 | 5,293 | 2% |
(a) For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, included Commercial printing revenues of $10.2 million and $8.0 million, respectively.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Digital advertising revenues increased compared to 2023, primarily due to an
increase in national and local display revenues, partially offset by lower spend on employment notifications.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Digital marketing services revenues decreased compared to 2023, driven by a
decrease in client counts.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Digital-only subscription revenues increased compared to 2023, primarily driven
by the increase in digital-only paid subscriptions. Refer to "Key Performance Indicators" below for further discussion of digital-
only paid subscriptions.
56
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Print advertising revenues decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to lower
spend on classified advertisements.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Commercial and other revenues increased compared to 2023, primarily due to an
increase in customer spend.
Operating expenses
The following table provides the breakout of Operating costs for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsprint and ink | $10,187 | $13,351 | $(3,164) | (24%) |
| Distribution | 12,755 | 13,325 | (570) | (4%) |
| Compensation and benefits | 53,084 | 50,144 | 2,940 | 6% |
| Outside services | 15,233 | 16,033 | (800) | (5%) |
| Other | 31,736 | 27,411 | 4,325 | 16% |
| Total operating costs | $122,995 | $120,264 | $2,731 | 2% |
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Newsprint and ink costs decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to a decrease
in the cost of newsprint of approximately of $1.8 million, as well as volume declines.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Compensation and benefits costs increased compared to 2023, primarily due to
higher headcount for production facilities.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Other costs, increased compared to 2023, primarily associated with the increase in
digital advertising revenues.
The following table provides the breakout of Selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December
31, 2024 and 2023:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation and benefits | $47,517 | $47,350 | $167 | —% |
| Outside services and other | 15,740 | 16,597 | (857) | (5%) |
| Total selling, general and administrative expenses | $63,257 | $63,947 | $(690) | (1%) |
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Outside services and other costs decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to
lower technology related expenses of approximately $0.8 million and lower bad debt expense of approximately $0.2 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Integration and reorganization costs decreased compared to 2023, primarily due to
a decrease in severance costs of $0.9 million and a decrease in other reorganization-related costs of $1.4 million due to the
reversal of a withdrawal liability in 2024 related to a pension plan based on settlement of the withdrawal liability.
57
Newsquest segment Adjusted EBITDA
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income attributable to Gannett | $55,196 | $49,257 | $5,939 | 12% |
| Non-operating pension income | (7,417) | (8,677) | 1,260 | (15%) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 8,485 | 8,792 | (307) | (3%) |
| Integration and reorganization (reversal) costs | (513) | 1,763 | (2,276) | *** |
| Third-party debt expenses and acquisition costs | (22) | 215 | (237) | *** |
| Gain on sale or disposal of assets, net | (894) | (42) | (852) | *** |
| Other non-operating income, net | (1,426) | (1,539) | 113 | (7%) |
| Non-recurring items | — | 359 | (359) | (100%) |
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP basis)(a) | $53,409 | $50,128 | $3,281 | 7% |
| Net income attributable to Gannett margin | 23.1% | 21.1% | ||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin (non-GAAP basis)(a)(b) | 22.3% | 21.4% |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
(a) See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for additional information about non-GAAP financial performance measures.
(b) We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total Revenues.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, the increase in Newsquest segment Adjusted EBITDA compared to 2023 was
primarily attributable to the changes discussed above.
Newsquest segment 2023 compared to 2022
A summary of our Newsquest segment results comparing the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year ended December
31, 2022 is presented below:
In thousands
| Revenues: | Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital | $74,910 | $74,610 | $300 | —% |
| Print and commercial | 159,070 | 160,020 | (950) | (1%) |
| Total revenues | 233,980 | 234,630 | (650) | —% |
| Operating expenses: | ||||
| Operating costs | 120,264 | 125,405 | (5,141) | (4%) |
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 63,947 | 69,563 | (5,616) | (8%) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 8,792 | 7,374 | 1,418 | 19% |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 1,763 | 4,425 | (2,662) | (60%) |
| Gain on sale or disposal of assets, net | (42) | (319) | 277 | (87%) |
| Other operating expenses | 215 | 725 | (510) | (70%) |
| Total operating expenses | 194,939 | 207,173 | (12,234) | (6%) |
| Operating income | $39,041 | $27,457 | $11,584 | 42% |
58
Revenues
The following table provides the breakout of Revenues by category for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital advertising | $50,362 | $50,890 | $(528) | (1%) |
| Digital marketing services | 8,920 | 9,263 | (343) | (4%) |
| Digital-only subscription | 5,237 | 4,947 | 290 | 6% |
| Digital other | 10,391 | 9,510 | 881 | 9% |
| Digital | 74,910 | 74,610 | 300 | —% |
| Print advertising | 74,844 | 76,141 | (1,297) | (2%) |
| Print circulation | 68,042 | 67,165 | 877 | 1% |
| Commercial and other(a) | 16,184 | 16,714 | (530) | (3%) |
| Print and commercial | 159,070 | 160,020 | (950) | (1%) |
| Total revenues | $233,980 | $234,630 | (650) | —% |
(a) For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, included Commercial printing revenues of $8.0 million and $7.0 million, respectively.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Digital advertising revenues decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to lower
spend on employment notifications, partially offset by the impact of an acquisition in the first quarter of 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Digital other revenues increased compared to 2022, primarily due to higher digital
syndication revenues.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Print advertising revenues decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to a
reduction in spend driven by the ongoing decline associated with secular trends reflecting the shift to digital platforms and
lower spend on real estate, employment, and automobile classified advertisements, partially offset by an increase reflecting the
impact of an acquisition in the first quarter of 2022 and higher spend on legal notifications.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Print circulation revenues increased compared to 2022, primarily due to the impact
of an acquisition in the first quarter of 2022.
Operating expenses
The following table provides the breakout of Operating costs for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsprint and ink | $13,351 | $15,039 | $(1,688) | (11%) |
| Distribution | 13,325 | 14,697 | (1,372) | (9%) |
| Compensation and benefits | 50,144 | 51,032 | (888) | (2%) |
| Outside services | 16,033 | 16,924 | (891) | (5%) |
| Other | 27,411 | 27,713 | (302) | (1%) |
| Total operating costs | $120,264 | $125,405 | $(5,141) | (4%) |
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Newsprint and ink costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to a decline
associated with lower volume due to the decline in revenues and a reduction in the cost of newsprint.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Distribution costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to a decline
associated with lower revenues.
59
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Compensation and benefits costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to
lower payroll and employee benefit expenses driven by integration savings due to decreased headcount associated with an
acquisition in the first quarter of 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Outside services costs, which includes professional services fulfilled by third
parties, media fees and other digital costs, and paid search and ad serving services, decreased compared to 2022, due to lower
miscellaneous expenses driven by cost control initiatives.
The following table provides the breakout of Selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December
31, 2023 and 2022:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation and benefits | $47,350 | $50,708 | $(3,358) | (7%) |
| Outside services and other | 16,597 | 18,855 | (2,258) | (12%) |
| Total selling, general and administrative expenses | $63,947 | $69,563 | $(5,616) | (8%) |
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Compensation and benefits costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to
lower payroll and employee benefit expenses driven by a reduction in headcount tied to integration activities associated with an
acquisition in the first quarter of 2022, as well as ongoing cost control initiatives.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Outside services and other costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to a
reduction in technology spend tied to integration activities associated with an acquisition in the first quarter of 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Depreciation and amortization expense increased compared to 2022, mainly due to
higher accelerated depreciation as a result of exiting space and higher amortization of capitalized software.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Integration and reorganization costs decreased compared to 2022, mainly due to a
decrease in severance costs of $2.5 million and a decrease in other reorganization-related costs of $0.2 million.
Newsquest segment Adjusted EBITDA
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income attributable to Gannett | $49,257 | $49,301 | $(44) | —% |
| Non-operating pension income | (8,677) | (23,032) | 14,355 | (62%) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 8,792 | 7,374 | 1,418 | 19% |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 1,763 | 4,425 | (2,662) | (60%) |
| Third-party debt expenses and acquisition costs | 215 | 725 | (510) | (70%) |
| Gain on sale or disposal of assets, net | (42) | (319) | 277 | (87%) |
| Other non-operating (income) expense, net | (1,539) | 1,188 | (2,727) | *** |
| Non-recurring items | 359 | 365 | (6) | (2%) |
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP basis)(a) | $50,128 | $40,027 | $10,101 | 25% |
| Net income attributable to Gannett margin | 21.1% | 21.0% | ||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin (non-GAAP basis)(a)(b) | 21.4% | 17.1% |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
(a) See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for additional information about non-GAAP financial performance measures.
(b) We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total Revenues.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, the increase in Newsquest segment Adjusted EBITDA compared to 2022 was
primarily attributable to the changes discussed above. In addition, for the year ended December 31, 2023, the decrease in Non-
operating pension income compared to 2022 was primarily due to an increase in interest rates.
60
Digital Marketing Solutions segment 2024 compared to 2023
A summary of our DMS segment results comparing the year ended December 31, 2024 to the year ended December 31,
2023 is presented below:
In thousands
| Revenues: | Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital(a) | $477,807 | $477,909 | $(102) | —% |
| Total revenues | 477,807 | 477,909 | (102) | —% |
| Operating expenses: | ||||
| Operating costs | 343,782 | 336,056 | 7,726 | 2% |
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 90,981 | 88,630 | 2,351 | 3% |
| Depreciation and amortization | 24,066 | 23,795 | 271 | 1% |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 2,061 | 784 | 1,277 | *** |
| Loss on sale or disposal of assets, net | 93 | 324 | (231) | (71%) |
| Total operating expenses | 460,983 | 449,589 | 11,394 | 3% |
| Operating income | $16,824 | $28,320 | $(11,496) | (41%) |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
(a) Digital revenues are solely generated by digital marketing services revenues.
Revenues
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Digital revenues remained essentially flat compared to 2023, primarily due to a
decline in revenues from non-core products which were sunset, offset by growth in the core direct business. Core platform
average revenue per user ("Core platform ARPU") increased 5.3% for the year ended December 31, 2024. Refer to "Key
Performance Indicators" below for further discussion of Core platform ARPU.
Operating expenses
The following table provides the breakout of Operating costs for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outside services | $300,523 | $294,073 | $6,450 | 2% |
| Compensation and benefits | 36,684 | 35,604 | 1,080 | 3% |
| Other | 6,575 | 6,379 | 196 | 3% |
| Total operating costs | $343,782 | $336,056 | $7,726 | 2% |
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Outside services costs increased compared to 2023, due to an increase in expenses
associated with third-party media fees driven by higher costs of search.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Compensation and benefits costs increased compared to 2023, primarily due to
higher wages.
The following table provides the breakout of Selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December
31, 2024 and 2023:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation and benefits | $78,709 | $76,190 | $2,519 | 3% |
| Outside services and other | 12,272 | 12,440 | (168) | (1%) |
| Total selling, general and administrative expenses | $90,981 | $88,630 | $2,351 | 3% |
61
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Compensation and benefits costs increased compared to 2023, primarily due to
higher payroll expense of $1.7 million, driven by higher wages, and higher employee benefit costs of $0.8 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Outside services and other costs decreased compared to 2023, mainly due to lower
bad debt expense of $0.5 million, partially offset by an increase in miscellaneous expenses, including higher costs associated
with outsourcing and professional services.
DMS segment Adjusted EBITDA
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income attributable to Gannett | $13,382 | $28,841 | $(15,459) | (54%) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 24,066 | 23,795 | 271 | 1% |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 2,061 | 784 | 1,277 | *** |
| Loss on sale or disposal of assets, net | 93 | 324 | (231) | (71%) |
| Other non-operating expense (income), net | 3,442 | (521) | 3,963 | *** |
| Non-recurring items | 634 | — | 634 | *** |
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP basis)(a) | $43,678 | $53,223 | $(9,545) | (18%) |
| Net income attributable to Gannett margin | 2.8% | 6.0% | ||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin (non-GAAP basis)(a)(b) | 9.1% | 11.1% |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
(a) See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for additional information about non-GAAP financial performance measures.
(b) We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total Revenues.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, the decrease in DMS segment Adjusted EBITDA compared to 2023 was primarily
attributable to the changes discussed above. In addition, for the year ended December 31, 2024, the change in Other non-
operating expense compared to 2023, was mainly due to foreign currency fluctuations.
Digital Marketing Solutions segment 2023 compared to 2022
A summary of our DMS segment results comparing the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year ended December 31,
2022 is presented below:
In thousands
| Revenues: | Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital(a) | $477,909 | $468,883 | $9,026 | 2% |
| Total revenues | 477,909 | 468,883 | 9,026 | 2% |
| Operating expenses: | ||||
| Operating costs | 336,056 | 323,646 | 12,410 | 4% |
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 88,630 | 87,657 | 973 | 1% |
| Depreciation and amortization | 23,795 | 26,431 | (2,636) | (10%) |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 784 | 1,108 | (324) | (29%) |
| Loss on sale or disposal of assets, net | 324 | 179 | 145 | 81% |
| Total operating expenses | 449,589 | 439,021 | 10,568 | 2% |
| Operating income | $28,320 | $29,862 | $(1,542) | (5%) |
(a) Digital revenues are solely generated by digital marketing services revenues.
Revenues
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Digital revenues increased compared to 2022, primarily due to growth in the core
direct business, including growth in revenues associated with both local and multi-location customers, and an increase in Core
platform ARPU of 6.5% for the year ended December 31, 2023, partially offset by the impact of the sunset of non-core
products. Refer to "Key Performance Indicators" below for further discussion of Core platform ARPU.
62
Operating expenses
The following table provides the breakout of Operating costs for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outside services | $294,073 | $283,380 | $10,693 | 4% |
| Compensation and benefits | 35,604 | 32,633 | 2,971 | 9% |
| Other | 6,379 | 7,633 | (1,254) | (16%) |
| Total operating costs | $336,056 | $323,646 | $12,410 | 4% |
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Outside services costs increased compared to 2022, due to an increase in expenses
associated with third-party media fees driven by a corresponding increase in revenues.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Compensation and benefits costs increased compared to 2022, primarily due to an
increase in payroll expense driven by higher headcount.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Other costs decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to lower facility related
expenses, mainly as a result of exiting space associated with the sunset of non-core products.
The following table provides the breakout of Selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December
31, 2023 and 2022:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation and benefits | $76,190 | $74,867 | $1,323 | 2% |
| Outside services and other | 12,440 | 12,790 | (350) | (3%) |
| Total selling, general and administrative expenses | $88,630 | $87,657 | $973 | 1% |
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Compensation and benefits costs increased compared to 2022, primarily due to an
increase in payroll expense of $2.9 million driven by a higher bonus accrual, partially offset by lower employee benefit costs of
$1.5 million, mainly due to a decline in employer 401(k) plan matching contributions, which were suspended in the third
quarter of 2022.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Outside services and other costs decreased compared to 2022, due to a decrease in
various miscellaneous expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Depreciation and amortization expense decreased compared to 2022, primarily due
to a decrease in amortization expense, resulting from the impact of intangibles becoming fully amortized in the fourth quarter of
2022, partially offset by an increase in depreciation expense related to capitalized software.
63
DMS segment Adjusted EBITDA
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income attributable to Gannett | $28,841 | $26,919 | $1,922 | 7% |
| Depreciation and amortization | 23,795 | 26,431 | (2,636) | (10%) |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 784 | 1,108 | (324) | (29%) |
| Loss on sale or disposal of assets, net | 324 | 179 | 145 | 81% |
| Other non-operating (income) expense, net | (521) | 2,943 | (3,464) | *** |
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP basis)(a) | $53,223 | $57,580 | $(4,357) | (8)% |
| Net income attributable to Gannett margin | 6.0% | 5.7% | ||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin (non-GAAP basis)(a)(b) | 11.1% | 12.3% |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
(a) See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for additional information about non-GAAP financial performance measures.
(b) We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total Revenues.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, the decrease in DMS segment Adjusted EBITDA compared to 2022 was primarily
attributable to the changes discussed above. In addition, for the year ended December 31, 2023, Other non-operating expense,
net decreased compared to 2022, mainly due to foreign currency fluctuations.
Corporate and other category 2024 compared to 2023
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Corporate and other revenues were $5.7 million compared to $6.3 million for the
year ended December 31, 2023.
The following table provides the breakout of Operating expenses for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:
In thousands
| Operating expenses: | Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating costs | $18,809 | $23,356 | $(4,547) | (19%) |
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 46,922 | 41,919 | 5,003 | 12% |
| Depreciation and amortization | 27,258 | 17,834 | 9,424 | 53% |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 14,982 | 16,339 | (1,357) | (8%) |
| Asset impairments | 45,989 | — | 45,989 | *** |
| Other operating expenses | 10,954 | 1,196 | 9,758 | *** |
| Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets, net | 225 | (1,446) | 1,671 | *** |
| Total operating expenses | $165,139 | $99,198 | $65,941 | 66% |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Corporate and other operating expenses increased compared to 2023, primarily due
to an increase in Asset impairments of approximately $46.0 million related to the write-off of the McLean, Virginia operating
lease right-of-use asset and the associated leasehold improvements, an increase in Depreciation and amortization expense,
mainly driven by software and capitalized labor, an increase in Other operating expenses, mainly driven by third-party fees
expensed related to the refinancing of our debt in October 2024, and an increase in Selling, general and administrative
expenses, mainly driven by higher legal fees and an increase in outsourcing costs, partially offset by lower compensation and
benefits costs and lower facility related costs. In addition, the increase in operating expenses also reflected the absence in 2024
of the $1.4 million gain on the sale of intellectual property incurred in the first quarter of 2023. The increases noted above were
offset by a decrease in Operating costs, mainly driven by lower credit card fees and lower content allocation costs, partially
offset by higher compensation and benefits costs, and a decrease in Integration and reorganization-related costs, primarily due
to a decrease in severance costs of $4.6 million, partially offset by an increase in other reorganization-related costs of
$3.2 million, mainly driven by higher facility consolidation costs.
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Corporate and other category 2023 compared to 2022
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Corporate and other revenues were $6.3 million compared to $5.4 million for the
year ended December 31, 2022.
The following table provides the breakout of Operating expenses for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:
In thousands
| Operating expenses: | Year ended December 31, 2023 | 2022 | $ Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating costs | $23,356 | $10,050 | $13,306 | *** |
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 41,919 | 63,854 | (21,935) | (34%) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 17,834 | 17,660 | 174 | 1% |
| Integration and reorganization costs | 16,339 | 26,866 | (10,527) | (39%) |
| Other operating expenses | 1,196 | 1,165 | 31 | 3% |
| Gain on sale or disposal of assets, net | (1,446) | (5) | (1,441) | *** |
| Total operating expenses | $99,198 | $119,590 | $(20,392) | (17%) |
*** Indicates an absolute value percentage change greater than 100.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Corporate and other operating expenses decreased compared to 2022, primarily
due to a decrease in Selling, general and administrative expenses, mainly driven by a decrease of $29.3 million in payroll and
employee benefit costs, a decrease in Integration and reorganization-related costs, primarily due to a decrease in severance costs
of $6.2 million and a decrease in other reorganization-related costs of $4.3 million, mainly due to a decrease in system
integration costs and an increase in the gain on sale of assets driven by a $1.4 million gain on the sale of intellectual property,
partially offset by an increase in Operating costs.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Our primary cash requirements are for working capital, debt obligations, and capital expenditures.
We expect to fund our operations and debt service requirements through cash provided by our operating activities. We
expect we will have adequate capital resources and liquidity to meet our ongoing working capital needs, borrowing obligations,
and all required capital expenditures for at least the next twelve months and beyond. However, a further economic downturn or
an increased rate of revenue declines would negatively impact our revenue, cash provided by operating activities and liquidity.
We continue to implement cost reduction initiatives to reduce our ongoing level of operating expense. We believe our ability to
realize benefits from our cost reduction initiatives will be necessary to offset the continued secular decline in our legacy print
business revenue streams. We believe that these measures are important in response to the overall challenging macroeconomic
environment that we are facing. Refer to "Overview - Macroeconomic Environment" above for further discussion.
Details of our cash flows are included in the table below:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash provided by operating activities | $100,310 | $94,574 |
| Cash (used for) provided by investing activities | (27,950) | 46,979 |
| Cash used for financing activities | (68,853) | (135,511) |
| Effect of currency exchange rate change on cash | 2,062 | (234) |
| Increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | $5,569 | $5,808 |
Cash flows provided by operating activities: Our largest source of cash provided by operating activities is cash generated
through circulation subscribers and advertising and marketing services, primarily from local and national print advertising, as
well as retail, classified, and online revenues. Additionally, we generate cash through commercial printing and delivery services
to third parties, and events. Our primary uses of cash from our operating activities include compensation, newsprint, delivery,
and outside services.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, cash flows provided by operating activities were $100.3 million compared to $94.6
million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in cash flows provided by operating activities was primarily due to
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a decrease in severance payments, a decrease in interest payments, an increase in accounts payable due to overall timing of
payments and a decrease in compensation cost, partially offset by third-party fees expensed related to the refinancing of our
debt in 2024, an increase in contributions to our pension and other postretirement benefit plans, and lower cash receipts related
to deferred revenues.
Cash flows (used for) provided by investing activities: For the year ended December 31, 2024, cash flows used for
investing activities were $28.0 million compared to $47.0 million in cash flows provided by investing activities for the year
ended December 31, 2023. The increase in cash flows used for investing activities was primarily due to an increase in purchases
of property, plant, and equipment of $11.4 million and a decrease in proceeds from the sale of real estate and other non-strategic
assets of $64.3 million.
Cash flows used for financing activities: For the year ended December 31, 2024, cash flows used for financing activities
were $68.9 million compared to $135.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in cash used for financing
activities was primarily due to the higher borrowings of long-term debt, net of repayments of $326.8 million, offset by higher
repayments of convertible debt, net of borrowings of $248.1 million and $8.9 million in payments of deferred financing costs.
Debt
As of December 31, 2024, the carrying value of our outstanding debt totaled $1.080 billion, which consisted of $830.1
million related to the 2029 Term Loan Facility, $215.9 million related to the 2031 Notes (as defined below), and $33.8 million
related to the 2027 Notes (as defined below). Our 2029 Term Loan Facility, 2031 Notes, and 2027 Notes all contain usual and
customary covenants and events of default. As of December 31, 2024, we were in compliance with all such covenants and
obligations. Refer to Note 8 — Debt for additional discussion regarding our debt.
Term Loans
On October 15, 2024 (the "Closing Date"), we entered into an Amendment and Restatement Agreement (the "Amendment
and Restatement Agreement") among us, as a guarantor, Gannett Holdings LLC ("Gannett Holdings"), as the borrower (in such
capacity, the "Borrower"), certain subsidiaries of the Borrower as guarantors, the lenders party thereto, Citibank, N.A., as the
existing collateral agent and administrative agent for the lenders, and Apollo Administrative Agency LLC, as the successor
collateral agent and administrative agent for the lenders, which amended and restated our existing First Lien Credit Agreement
dated as of October 15, 2021 (as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time prior to the Closing Date, the
"Existing Credit Agreement"; the Existing Credit Agreement, as amended and restated by the Amendment and Restatement
Agreement, the "Amended Credit Agreement") by and among us, as guarantor, the Borrower, certain subsidiaries of the
Borrower as guarantors and Citibank, N.A., as administrative agent and collateral agent. The Amended Credit Agreement
provides for the 2029 Term Loan Facility, which refinanced and replaced our Senior Secured Term Loan.
The 2029 Term Loan Facility bears interest at an annual rate equal, at the Borrower's option, to either (a) an alternate base
rate (which shall not be less than 2.50% per annum) plus a margin equal to 4.00% per annum or (b) Adjusted Term SOFR
(which shall not be less than 1.50%) plus a margin equal to 5.00% per annum. The 2029 Term Loan Facility will mature on
October 15, 2029 and will be freely prepayable without penalty.
The 2029 Term Loan Facility is amortized at a rate of $17.0 million per quarter, with such rate to be adjusted upon the
borrowing of any delayed-draw term loans to the extent necessary to cause such delayed-draw term loans to be fungible with
the initial term loans under the 2029 Term Loan Facility. In addition, we are required to repay the 2029 Term Loan Facility
from time to time with (i) the proceeds of non-ordinary course asset sales and casualty and condemnation events, (ii) the
proceeds of indebtedness that is not otherwise permitted under the 2029 Term Loan Facility and (iii) the aggregate amount of
cash and cash equivalents on hand at the Company and our restricted subsidiaries in excess of $100.0 million as of the last day
of any fiscal year of the Company (beginning with the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024).
For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company prepaid $350.4 million, including quarterly amortization payments, on
the Senior Secured Term Loan, and prepaid $0.5 million on the 2029 Term Loan Facility, which were classified as financing
activities in the Consolidated statements of cash flows.
2026 Senior Notes
In March 2024, we entered into a privately negotiated agreement with certain holders of our 2026 Senior Notes, and
repurchased $13.0 million of principal of our outstanding 2026 Senior Notes at a discount to par value.
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On October 15, 2024, the Company and Gannett Holdings completed an offer to exchange (the "2026 Senior Notes
Exchange Offer") any and all outstanding 2026 Senior Notes for, at the election of each holder of 2026 Senior Notes, either (a)
(i) term loans under the 2029 Term Loan Facility and (ii) an upfront fee equal to 1.5% of such term loans (together with the
term loans, the "Loan Option Consideration"); or (b) cash (the "Cash Option Consideration").
Pursuant to the 2026 Senior Notes Exchange Offer, $274.7 million in aggregate principal amount of the 2026 Senior Notes
were tendered and accepted for exchange and subsequently canceled. 2026 Senior Notes in an aggregate principal amount of
$40.4 million were exchanged for the Loan Option Consideration and 2026 Senior Notes in an aggregate principal amount of
$234.3 million were exchanged for the Cash Option Consideration. Pursuant to the 2026 Senior Notes Exchange Offer, we paid
aggregate cash consideration of $234.9 million (including the Cash Option Consideration and the upfront fee included in the
Loan Option Consideration).
On December 4, 2024, Gannett Holdings redeemed the remaining $3.9 million in aggregate principal amount of the 2026
Senior Notes outstanding using the proceeds of non-ordinary course asset sales and cash on hand.
Senior Secured Convertible Notes due 2027, Senior Secured Convertible Notes due 2031, and the Convertible Notes
Exchange
On October 15, 2024, we completed privately negotiated transactions with certain holders of our 6.000% Senior Secured
Convertible Notes due 2027 (the "2027 Notes") pursuant to which we (i) repurchased a total of $223.6 million in aggregate
principal amount of 2027 Notes for cash at a rate of $1,110 per $1,000 principal amount of 2027 Notes, for aggregate cash
consideration of $248.2 million and (ii) exchanged a total of $223.6 million in aggregate principal amount of 2027 Notes for
new 6.000% Senior Secured Convertible Notes due 2031 (the "2031 Notes" and such repurchase and exchange, collectively, the
"Convertible Notes Exchange").
Additionally, on October 15, 2024, we issued and sold $110,000 in aggregate principal amount of 2031 Notes in a privately
negotiated transaction (the "2031 Notes Sale").
The 2031 Notes were issued pursuant to an indenture, dated as of October 15, 2024, among us, the guarantors party thereto,
U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association, as trustee, and Alter Domus Products Corp, as collateral agent.
Following the completion of the Convertible Notes Exchange and the 2031 Notes Sale, we had outstanding $38.1 million
aggregate principal amount of 2027 Notes and $223.7 million aggregate principal amount of 2031 Notes.
Interest on the 2027 Notes and 2031 Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears, and the 2027 Notes and 2031 Notes mature
on December 1, 2027, and December 1, 2031, respectively, unless earlier repurchased or converted. The 2027 Notes and 2031
Notes may be converted at any time by the Holders into cash, shares of our Common Stock or any combination of cash and
Common Stock, at the Company's election. The initial conversion rate for both the 2027 Notes and the 2031 Notes is 200 shares
of Common Stock per $1,000 principal amount of the 2027 Notes and the 2031 Notes, respectively, which is equal to a
conversion price of $5.00 per share of Common Stock (the "Conversion Price").
For the year ended December 31, 2024, no shares of Common Stock were issued upon conversion, exercise, or satisfaction
of the required conditions of the 2027 Notes or the 2031 Notes.
Additional information
We continue to evaluate our results of operations, liquidity and cash flows, and as part of these measures, we have taken
steps to manage cash outflow by rationalizing expenses and implementing various cost management initiatives. We do not
presently pay a quarterly dividend and there can be no assurance that we will pay dividends in the future. In addition, the terms
of our indebtedness, including the 2029 Term Loan Facility and the 2031 Notes Indenture have terms that restrict our ability to
pay dividends.
On February 1, 2022, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million (the "Stock Repurchase
Program") of our Common Stock. Repurchases may be made from time to time through open market purchases or privately
negotiated transactions, pursuant to one or more plans established pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended, or by means of one or more tender offers, in each case, as permitted by securities laws and other legal
requirements. The amount and timing of the purchases, if any, will depend on a number of factors, including, but not limited to,
the price and availability of our shares, trading volume, capital availability, our performance and general economic and market
conditions. The Stock Repurchase Program may be suspended or discontinued at any time. Further, future repurchases under
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our Stock Repurchase Program may be subject to various conditions under the terms of our various debt instruments and
agreements, unless an exception is available or we obtain a waiver or similar relief.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we did not repurchase any shares of Common Stock under the Stock
Repurchase Program. As of December 31, 2024, the remaining authorized amount under the Stock Repurchase Program was
approximately $96.9 million. The Company does not currently anticipate repurchasing any shares of Common Stock during the
first quarter of 2025.
We expect our capital expenditures during the year ended December 31, 2025 to total approximately $55 million to
$65 million. These capital expenditures are anticipated to be primarily comprised of projects related to digital product
development, costs associated with our print and technology systems, and system upgrades.
Our leverage may adversely affect our business and financial performance and restricts our operating flexibility. The level
of our indebtedness and our ongoing cash flow requirements may expose us to a risk that a substantial decrease in operating
cash flows due to, among other things, continued or additional adverse economic conditions or adverse developments in our
business, could make it difficult for us to meet the financial and operating covenants contained in our 2029 Term Loan Facility,
the 2031 Notes, and the 2027 Notes. In addition, our leverage may limit cash flow available for general corporate purposes such
as capital expenditures as well as share repurchases and acquisitions and our flexibility to react to competitive, technological,
and other changes in our industry and economic conditions generally. We continue to closely monitor economic factors,
including, but not limited to, the current inflationary market and changing interest rates, and we expect to continue to take the
steps necessary to appropriately manage liquidity.
As of December 31, 2024, we had no off-balance sheet arrangements that are reasonably likely to have a material current or
future effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.
Contractual obligations and commitments
We enter into various contractual arrangements as a part of our operations. Many of these contractual obligations are
discussed in the notes to our Consolidated financial statements. As of December 31, 2024, material obligations discussed in the
notes to our Consolidated financial statements included (i) principal payments on our long-term debt discussed in Note 8 —
Debt, (ii) operating leases discussed in Note 4 — Leases, and (iii) pension and postretirement benefits discussed in Note 9 —
Pensions and other postretirement benefit plans. We anticipate interest payments associated with our long-term debt totaling
$91.7 million in 2025, $84.3 million in 2026 and $201.9 million thereafter. Due to uncertainty with respect to the timing of
future cash flows associated with unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2024, we are unable to make reasonably reliable
estimates of the period of cash settlement. See Note 11 — Income taxes to the Consolidated financial statements for a further
discussion of income taxes.
In addition, we have purchase obligations which include digital licenses and information technology services, professional
services, interactive marketing agreements, and other legally binding commitments. As of December 31, 2024, we had future
purchase obligations totaling $85.7 million due in 2025, $55.4 million due in 2026, and $25.4 million due thereafter. We have
certain contracts to purchase newsprint that require us to purchase a percentage of our total requirements for production at
market rate. Since the quantities purchased annually under these contracts are not fixed, the amount of the related payments for
these purchases is excluded from our future purchase obligations. Amounts for which we are liable under purchase orders
outstanding at December 31, 2024 are reflected in the Consolidated balance sheets as Accounts payable and accrued liabilities.
We also have other noncurrent liabilities totaling $2.1 million due in 2025, $1.8 million due in 2026, and $3.7 million due
thereafter.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
A non-GAAP financial measure is generally defined as one that purports to measure historical or future financial
performance, financial position, or cash flows, but excludes or includes amounts that would not be so excluded or included in
the most comparable U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP") measure.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP financial performance measures we believe offer a useful
view of the overall operations of our business. These non-GAAP financial performance measures, which may not be
comparable to, and may be defined differently than, similarly titled measures used or reported by other companies, should not
be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for the related U.S. GAAP measures and should be read together with financial
information presented on a U.S. GAAP basis.
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We define Adjusted EBITDA as Net income (loss) attributable to Gannett before (1) Income tax expense (benefit), (2)
Interest expense, (3) Gains or losses on the early extinguishment of debt, (4) Non-operating pension income, (5) Loss on
convertible notes derivative, (6) Depreciation and amortization, (7) Integration and reorganization costs, (8) Third-party debt
expenses and acquisition costs, (9) Asset impairments, (10) Goodwill and intangible impairments, (11) Gains or losses on the
sale or disposal of assets, (12) Share-based compensation, (13) Other non-operating (income) expense, net, and (14) Non-
recurring items. We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total Revenues.
Management's use of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are not measurements of financial performance under U.S. GAAP and
should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net income (loss), margin, or any other measure of performance or
liquidity derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We believe these non-GAAP financial performance measures, as we have
defined them, are helpful in identifying trends in our day-to-day performance because the items excluded have little or no
significance on our day-to-day operations. These measures provide an assessment of core expenses and afford management the
ability to make decisions which are expected to facilitate meeting current financial goals as well as achieve optimal financial
performance.
We use Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin as measures of our day-to-day operating performance, which is
evidenced by the publishing and delivery of news and other media and excludes certain expenses that may not be indicative of
our day-to-day business operating results.
Limitations of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin have limitations as analytical tools. They should not be viewed in
isolation or as a substitute for U.S. GAAP measures of earnings. Material limitations in making the adjustments to our earnings
to calculate Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin and using these non-GAAP financial measures as compared to
U.S. GAAP net income (loss) include: the exclusion of the cash portion of interest/financing expense, income tax (benefit)
provision, and charges related to asset impairments, which are items that may significantly affect our financial results.
Management believes these items are important in evaluating our performance, results of operations, and financial position.
We use non-GAAP financial performance measures to supplement our U.S. GAAP results in order to provide a more complete
understanding of the factors and trends affecting our business.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are not alternatives to net income (loss), margin, or any other measure of
performance or liquidity derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. As such, they should not be considered or relied upon as
substitutes or alternatives for any such U.S. GAAP financial measures. We strongly urge you to review the reconciliation of Net
income (loss) attributable to Gannett to Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin along with our Consolidated
financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We also strongly urge you not to rely on any
single financial performance measure to evaluate our business. In addition, because Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA
margin are not measures of financial performance under U.S. GAAP and are susceptible to varying calculations, the Adjusted
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin measures as presented in this report may differ from and may not be comparable to
similarly titled measures used by other companies.
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The table below shows the reconciliation of Net loss attributable to Gannett to Adjusted EBITDA and Net loss attributable
to Gannett margin to Adjusted EBITDA margin:
In thousands
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net loss attributable to Gannett | $(26,354) | $(27,791) | $(78,002) |
| (Benefit) provision for income taxes | (51,286) | 21,729 | 1,349 |
| Interest expense | 104,697 | 111,776 | 108,366 |
| Gain on early extinguishment of debt | (55,559) | (4,529) | (399) |
| Non-operating pension income | (12,438) | (9,382) | (58,953) |
| Depreciation and amortization | 156,287 | 162,622 | 182,022 |
| Integration and reorganization costs(a) | 66,155 | 24,468 | 87,974 |
| Third-party debt expenses and acquisition costs | 10,932 | 1,550 | 1,892 |
| Asset impairments | 46,589 | 1,370 | 1,056 |
| Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets, net | 1,106 | (40,101) | (6,883) |
| Share-based compensation expense | 12,522 | 16,567 | 16,751 |
| Other non-operating income, net | (1,317) | (3,050) | (2,286) |
| Non-recurring items | 21,855 | 12,454 | 4,396 |
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP basis) | $273,189 | $267,683 | $257,283 |
| Net loss attributable to Gannett margin | (1.1)% | (1.0)% | (2.6)% |
| Adjusted EBITDA margin (non-GAAP basis) | 10.9% | 10.0% | 8.7% |
(a) For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, Integration and reorganization-related costs mainly reflect severance-related expenses and other
reorganization-related costs, designed primarily to right-size the Company's employee base, consolidate facilities and improve operations.
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KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
A key performance indicator ("KPI") is generally defined as a quantifiable measurement or metric used to gauge
performance, specifically to help determine strategic, financial, and operational achievements, especially compared to those of
similar businesses.
We define Digital-only ARPU as digital-only subscription average monthly revenues divided by the average digital-only
paid subscriptions within the respective period. We define Core platform ARPU as core platform average monthly revenues
divided by average monthly customer count within the period. We define Core platform revenues as revenue derived from
customers utilizing our proprietary digital marketing services platform that are sold by either our direct or local market teams.
Management believes Digital-only ARPU, Core platform ARPU, digital-only paid subscriptions, Core platform revenues
and core platform average customer count are KPIs that offer useful information in understanding consumer behavior, trends in
our business, and our overall operating results. Management utilizes these KPIs to track and analyze trends across our
segments.
The following tables provide information regarding certain KPIs for the Domestic Gannett Media, Newsquest and DMS
segments:
In thousands, except ARPU
| Domestic Gannett Media: | Year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | 2022 | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital-only ARPU | $7.83 | $6.46 | $1.37 | 21.2% | $5.99 | $0.47 | 7.8% |
| Newsquest: | |||||||
| Digital-only ARPU | $6.17 | $6.14 | $0.03 | 0.5% | $7.44 | $(1.30) | (17.5)% |
| Total Gannett: | |||||||
| Digital-only ARPU | $7.75 | $6.45 | $1.30 | 20.2% | $6.04 | $0.41 | 6.8% |
| DMS: | |||||||
| Core platform revenues | $474,298 | $473,172 | $1,126 | 0.2% | $462,067 | $11,105 | 2.4% |
| Core platform ARPU | $2,760 | $2,620 | $140 | 5.3% | $2,459 | $161 | 6.5% |
| Core platform average customer count | 14.3 | 15.1 | (0.8) | (5.3)% | 15.7 | (0.6) | (3.8)% |
In thousands
| Digital-only paid subscriptions: | As of December 31, 2024 | 2023 | % Change | 2022 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic Gannett Media: | 1,953 | 1,912 | 2.1% | 1,970 | (2.9)% |
| Newsquest | 110 | 83 | 32.5% | 59 | 40.7% |
| Total Gannett | 2,063 | 1,995 | 3.4% | 2,029 | (1.7)% |
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make decisions based on
estimates, assumptions, and factors it considers relevant to the circumstances. Such decisions include the selection of applicable
principles and the use of judgment in their application, the results of which could differ from those anticipated.
Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets
Goodwill is tested for impairment annually on November 30 and between annual tests if events occur or circumstances
change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount. We have the option
to qualitatively assess whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value,
although we did not elect to use this option for the Company's evaluation as of November 30, 2024. If we elect to perform a
qualitative assessment and conclude it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is equal to or greater than
its carrying value, no further assessment of that reporting unit's goodwill is necessary; otherwise goodwill must be tested for
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impairment. In the quantitative test, we are required to determine the fair value of each reporting unit and compare it to the
carrying amount of the reporting unit. Fair value of the reporting unit is defined as the price that would be received to sell the
unit as a whole in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. We generally determine the fair
value of a reporting unit using a combination of a discounted cash flow analysis and a market-based approach. Estimates of fair
value include inputs that are subjective in nature, involve uncertainties, and involve matters of significant judgment that are
made at a specific point in time. Changes in key assumptions from period to period could significantly affect the estimates of
fair value. Significant assumptions used in the fair value estimates include projected revenues and related growth rates over
time, projected operating cash flow margins, discount rates, and future economic and market conditions. If the carrying value of
the reporting unit exceeds the estimate of fair value, we calculate the impairment as the excess of the carrying value of goodwill
over its implied fair value.
While the Company believes its judgments represent reasonably possible outcomes based on available facts and
circumstances, adverse changes to the assumptions, including those related to macroeconomic factors, comparable public
company trading values and prevailing conditions in the capital markets, could lead to future declines in the fair value of a
reporting unit. The Company continually evaluates whether current factors or indicators, such as prevailing conditions in the
business environment, capital markets or the economy generally, and actual or projected operating results, require the
performance of an interim impairment assessment of goodwill, as well as other long-lived assets. For example, any significant
shortfall, now or in the future, in advertising revenues or subscribers and/or consumer acceptance of our products could lead to
a downward revision in the fair value of certain reporting units.
Newspaper mastheads (newspaper titles) are not subject to amortization as it has been determined that the useful lives of
such mastheads are indefinite. Newspaper mastheads are tested for impairment annually, or more frequently if events or
changes in circumstances indicate the asset might be impaired. The impairment test consists of a comparison of the fair value of
each group of mastheads with their carrying amount. We used a relief from royalty approach, which utilizes a discounted cash
flow model to determine the fair value of newspaper mastheads. Our judgments and estimates of future operating results in
determining the reporting unit fair values are consistently applied in determining the fair value of mastheads.
The performance of our annual impairment analysis resulted in no impairments to goodwill or indefinite-lived intangible
assets for the year ended December 31, 2024. See Note 6 — Goodwill and intangible assets for further discussion. If our future
operating results are not in line with the cash flow forecasts underlying our impairment analysis, we could have an impairment
of our goodwill or intangible assets in the future and such impairment could materially affect our operating results.
Long-Lived Assets
We evaluate the carrying value of property, plant, and equipment and finite-lived intangible assets for impairment
whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset group may not be recoverable. The
evaluation is performed by asset group, which is the lowest level of identifiable cash flows independent of other assets. The
assessment of recoverability is based on management's estimates by comparing the sum of the estimated undiscounted cash
flows generated by the underlying asset groups to its carrying value of the asset groups to determine whether an impairment
existed at its lowest level of identifiable cash flows. If the carrying amount of the asset group is greater than the expected
undiscounted cash flows to be generated by the asset group, an impairment is recognized to the extent the carrying value of
such asset group exceeds its fair value. The market approach is used in some cases to estimate the fair value of property, plant,
and equipment, particularly when there is a change in the use of an asset.
As part of ongoing cost-efficiency programs, we have ceased a number of print operations. Pursuant to these actions,
certain assets and real estate to be retired have been assessed for impairment.
Revenue Recognition
Our contracts with customers sometimes include promises to transfer multiple products and services to a customer.
Revenue from sales agreements that contain multiple performance obligations are allocated to each obligation based on the
relative standalone selling price. We determine standalone selling prices based on observable prices charged to customers. See
Note 2 — Summary of significant accounting policies for further discussion.
Income Taxes
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and various foreign jurisdictions in which we operate and record our tax
provision for the anticipated tax consequences in our reported results of operations. Tax laws are complex and subject to
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different interpretations by the taxpayer and respective government taxing authorities. Significant judgment is required in
determining our tax expense and in evaluating our tax positions, including evaluating uncertainties in the application of tax laws
and regulations.
We account for income taxes under the provisions of ASC 740, "Income Taxes" ("ASC 740"). Under ASC 740, deferred
tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and
liabilities using tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. The assessment of
the realizability of deferred tax assets involves a high degree of judgment and complexity. Valuation allowances are established
when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amounts that are expected to be realized. When we determine that it is more
likely than not that we will be able to realize our deferred tax assets in the future in excess of our net recorded amount, an
adjustment to the deferred tax asset would be made and reflected either in income or as an adjustment to goodwill. This
determination will be made by considering various factors, including our expected future results, that in our judgment will make
it more likely than not that these deferred tax assets will be realized.
Our actual effective tax rate and income tax expense could vary from estimated amounts due to the future impacts of
various items, including changes in income tax laws, tax planning and our forecasted financial condition, and results of
operations in future periods. Although we believe current estimates are reasonable, actual results could differ from these
estimates.
ASC 740 prescribes a comprehensive model for how a company should recognize, measure, present and disclose in its
financial statements uncertain tax positions that a company has taken or expects to take on a tax return. Under ASC 740, the
financial statements reflect expected future tax consequences of such positions presuming the taxing authorities' full knowledge
of the position and all relevant facts, but without considering time values. Recognized income tax positions are measured at the
largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized. Changes in recognition or measurement are reflected in
the period in which the change in judgment occurs.
Pension and Postretirement Liabilities
ASC 715, "Compensation—Retirement Benefits," requires recognition of an asset or liability in the consolidated balance
sheet reflecting the funded status of pension and other postretirement benefit plans, such as retiree health and life, with current-
year changes in the funded status recognized in the statement of stockholders' equity.
The determination of pension plan obligations and expense is based on a number of actuarial assumptions. Two critical
assumptions are the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the discount rate applied to pension plan obligations.
For other postretirement benefit plans, which provide for certain health care and life insurance benefits for qualifying retired
employees and which are not funded, critical assumptions in determining other postretirement benefit obligations and expense
are the discount rate and the assumed health care cost-trend rates.
Our pension plans had assets valued at $1.7 billion as of December 31, 2024 and the plans' benefit obligation was $1.5
billion, resulting in the plans being 110% funded at such date.
For 2024, the assumption used for the funded status discount rate was 5.75% for our principal retirement plan obligations.
As an indication of the sensitivity of pension liabilities to the discount rate assumption, a 50 basis point reduction in the
discount rate at the end of 2024 would have increased plan obligations by approximately $28.3 million. A 50 basis point change
in the discount rate used to calculate the benefit for 2024 would have decreased total pension plan expense for 2024 by
approximately $2.5 million. To determine the expected long-term rate of return on pension plan assets, we consider the current
and expected asset allocations, as well as historical and expected returns on various categories of plan assets, input from the
actuaries and investment consultants, and long-term inflation assumptions. For our principal retirement plan, we used an
assumption of 5.25% for our expected return on pension plan assets for 2024. If we were to reduce our expected rate of return
assumption by 50 basis points, the benefit for 2024 would have increased by approximately $4.4 million.
Market risk
As filed, 2,913 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
We are exposed to market risk from changes in interest rates, commodity prices, and foreign currency exchange rates.
Changes in these factors could cause fluctuations in earnings and cash flow. In the normal course of business, exposure to
certain of these market risks is managed as described below.
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Interest Rates
We generally manage our risk associated with changes in interest rates through the use of a combination of variable and
fixed-rate debt. As of December 31, 2024, we had variable and fixed-rate debt totaling $850.0 million and $261.8 million,
respectively. Our variable-rate debt consisted of our 2029 Term Loan Facility which bears interest at an annual rate equal, at
Gannett Holdings LLC's option, to either (i) an alternate base rate (which shall not be less than 2.50% per annum) plus a margin
equal to 4.00% per annum or (ii) Adjusted Term SOFR (which shall be no less than 1.50%) plus a margin equal to 5.00% per
annum. On October 15, 2024, our 2029 Term Loan Facility refinanced and replaced our Senior Secured Term Loan which bore
interest at the Adjusted Term Secured Overnight Financing Rate. A hypothetical interest rate increase of 100 basis points to our
2029 Term Loan Facility would have increased our interest expense related to our variable-rate debt and likewise decreased our
income and cash flows by approximately $8.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. See Note 8 — Debt to our
Consolidated financial statements for further discussion of our debt.
Commodity Prices
Certain operating expenses of ours are sensitive to commodity price fluctuations, as well as inflation. Our primary
commodity price exposures are newsprint and, to a lesser extent, ink, which in the aggregate represented approximately 3% and
4% of our total operating expenses for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. A hypothetical $10 per
metric ton increase in newsprint price would not have materially impacted our results of operations or cash flows based on
newsprint usage for the year ended December 31, 2024 of approximately 96,000 metric tons.
Foreign Currency
We are exposed to foreign exchange rate risk due to our operations in the U.K., for which the British pound sterling is the
functional currency. We are also exposed to foreign exchange rate risk due to our DMS segment which has operating activities
denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, including the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Indian rupee, and New
Zealand dollar. Translation gains or losses affecting the Consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income
(loss) have not been significant in the past. A hypothetical 10% fluctuation of the price of the British pound sterling and the
currencies in our DMS segment against the U.S. dollar would not have materially impacted operating income for the year ended
December 31, 2024.
74
Controls and procedures
As filed, 1,818 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal
financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as such term is defined under Rule
13a-15(e) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), as of the end of the
period covered by this report. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer have
concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports
filed or submitted by the Company under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time
periods specified in the SEC's rules and forms and that information required to be disclosed by the Company is accumulated
and communicated to the Company's management to allow timely decisions regarding the required disclosure.
Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Management's report on internal control over financial reporting and the attestation report of our independent registered
public accounting firm on our internal control over financial reporting are set forth in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-
K and are incorporated by reference herein.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There has been no change in the Company's internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules
13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the Company's fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended December 31,
2024 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Figures reported in this filing
Standardized line items from the XBRL in this filing, for the period ended 2024-12-31. Comparative periods it repeats are left out.
| Line item | Period | Value | XBRL concept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $2.51bn | us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax |
| Cost of revenue | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $1.55bn | us-gaap:CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold |
| Selling, general and administrative | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $726.0m | us-gaap:SellingGeneralAndAdministrativeExpense |
| Operating income | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$42.8m | us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss |
| Interest expense | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $104.7m | us-gaap:InterestExpenseNonoperating |
| Income tax | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$51.3m | us-gaap:IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit |
| Net income | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$26.4m | us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss |
| Diluted EPS | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$0.18 | us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted |
| Basic EPS | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$0.18 | us-gaap:EarningsPerShareBasic |
| Diluted shares (weighted) | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | 142,516,000 shares | us-gaap:WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding |
| Operating cash flow | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $100.3m | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities |
| Capital expenditure | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $49.5m | us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment |
| Share repurchases | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $3.1m | us-gaap:PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock |
| Cash and equivalents | At period end2024-12-31 | $106.3m | us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue |
| Current assets | At period end2024-12-31 | $425.9m | us-gaap:AssetsCurrent |
| Total assets | At period end2024-12-31 | $2.04bn | us-gaap:Assets |
| Current liabilities | At period end2024-12-31 | $545.6m | us-gaap:LiabilitiesCurrent |
| Total liabilities | At period end2024-12-31 | $1.89bn | us-gaap:Liabilities |
| Long-term debt | At period end2024-12-31 | $1.01bn | us-gaap:LongTermDebtNoncurrent |
| Current portion of debt | At period end2024-12-31 | $74.3m | us-gaap:LongTermDebtCurrent |
| Shareholders' equity | At period end2024-12-31 | $153.1m | us-gaap:StockholdersEquity |
Source: SEC EDGAR, the filing index for accession 0001579684-25-000007. Last ingested by Listed: Oct 24, 2026, 15:14 ET. Listed shows no prices and gives no investment advice.