Gannett Co Inc

Gannett Co., the nation's biggest newspaper publisher, reported an 11.5% decline in fiscal first-quarter earnings Wednesday as softer advertising and stock expenses weighed down results. Also, Gannett's chairman, Douglas McCorkindale, said in a conference call that the company wasn't participating in the auction of 12 newspapers owned by Knight Ridder Inc. that were being sold by Knight Ridder's buyer, Sacramento-based McClatchy Co.

Gannett Co., the largest newspaper publisher in the country, said it expected to report first-quarter earnings at the low end of Wall Street estimates. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial on average said the company, which publishes USA Today and 90 other daily U.S. newspapers, would earn 98 cents to $1.02 a share.

The easy job for directors of newspaper giant Knight Ridder Inc. this weekend may be choosing the best of at least two offers for the company, experts said Friday. The tougher question: whether to sell at all. Neither Knight Ridder nor its suitors are talking, but news accounts have identified McClatchy Co., owner of the Sacramento Bee and 11 other daily newspapers, as the top bidder. The deal could turn the mid-size Sacramento-based company into the nation's No.

At least two and possibly three prospective buyers are expected to submit bids today for Knight Ridder Inc., the second-largest U.S. newspaper chain. A deal could be announced within days, said bankers familiar with the process, although if the bids are close, the auction could drag out for weeks. Two of the three potential bids are from newspaper companies. McClatchy Co. is expected to make an offer, as is an alliance that includes No. 1 chain Gannett Co.

Gannett Co. appears to have dropped out as an independent bidder for all of Knight Ridder Inc. and may instead try to join a group seeking to buy the San Jose-based newspaper company, said people close to the sale process. Gannett, the publisher of USA Today, was expected to be a top contender in the auction. But Gannett skipped a meeting with Knight Ridder this week to go over the company's financial data, a sign it will not bid independently, the sources said.

Gannett Co. reported a 9% decline in fourth-quarter earnings Friday because of expenses from its swap of newspapers in Detroit and the absence of election-year advertising. The publisher of USA Today and 90 other daily newspapers in the U.S. reported earnings of $343 million, or $1.44 a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 25, compared with $378 million, or $1.47, a year earlier. Still, the earnings beat Wall Street's consensus estimate of $1.41. Gannett's shares rose $2.59, or 4.2%, to $63.

The money managers who successfully prodded Knight Ridder Inc. to put itself on the market might have picked a more advantageous moment. San Jose-based Knight Ridder, like other big-city newspaper chains, is suffering from chronic circulation and advertising declines, but there's also the persistent background buzz that the industry has its rear legs in a tar pit with nothing between it and extinction except a certain amount of useless thrashing.

Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper company, is buying the Detroit Free Press from Knight Ridder Inc. and MediaNews Group Inc. will take ownership of the Detroit News from Gannett, the companies announced Wednesday. Gannett and Knight Ridder also announced an exchange of newspapers in Florida, Washington and Idaho. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Gannett is buying the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida from Knight Ridder.

Gannett Co., publisher of USA Today and the owner of 21 television stations, said quarterly earnings fell for the first time since 2001 as declining broadcast revenue and higher costs cut profit by 3.2%. First-quarter net income was $265.7 million, or $1.05 a share, compared with $274.4 million, or $1, a year earlier, McLean, Va.-based Gannett said. Per-share earnings rose because the company bought back stock. Sales rose 3.6% to $1.79 billion. Gannett shares rose $1.