Gannett (NYSE: GCI) reported Q4 EPS of ($1.05), $0.78 worse than the analyst estimate of ($0.27). Revenue for the quarter came in at $699.27 million versus the consensus estimate of $409.5 million.

"We are pleased to announce our first earnings report since completing our acquisition of Legacy Gannett in November," said Michael Reed, Gannett Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Although we acquired Legacy Gannett only six weeks before the end of the quarter, we immediately began implementing our integration plan. By the end of the first quarter of 2020, we expect to have implemented measures that will result in over $60 million in annualized savings. As a result of these measures, we expect to realize $10 - $15 million of savings in the first quarter, and we expect the savings in subsequent quarters to increase as we continue to implement synergies throughout the year. We remain highly confident that we will complete the implementation of measures in 2020 corresponding to more than half of our $300 million synergy target related to the acquisition of Legacy Gannett."

"We are also happy to report that we are ahead of schedule in paying down debt. As announced earlier in January, we paid down $35.8 million in principal on our credit facility during the fourth quarter. Subsequent to the quarter, we have paid down an additional $9.4 million. Real estate sales have driven $8.9 million of the repayments, and we anticipate an additional $100 - $125 million in real estate sales by the end of 2021."

"As expected, same store trends weakened in the fourth quarter, in large part reflecting the runoff of more aggressive subscriber pricing initiatives that Legacy Gannett implemented in the fourth quarter of 2018. Beyond circulation revenue, same store advertising trends were a bit weaker than expected primarily due to disruption from the Acquisition. We have already seen trends improve in the first quarter and are confident in our ability to sustain these positive trends. In the fourth quarter, we saw strong gains in digital marketing services revenues at Legacy Gannett in our local markets, and the Legacy New Media events business nearly doubled its revenues compared to the prior year period. We were pleased with the strong momentum we saw in our key growth areas, which positioned us for a solid start to 2020."

"Our Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was negatively impacted by both the revenue softness and higher than anticipated healthcare claims, while our Free cash flow reflects a significant amount of one-time costs related to the Acquisition. Adjusting for these one-time items, Free cash flow would have been $65.9 million. With integration efforts ongoing, we remain very optimistic about our ability to deliver on our synergy targets, pay down debt, and return capital to shareholders, while continuing to serve as a trusted source of high quality news to the communities we serve."

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