S&P affirms Gannett

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed its A-2 short-term rating on Gannett Co. Inc. and removed the rating from CreditWatch with negative implications. Other ratings, including the A- long-term corporate credit rating, remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on July 24.

"The short-term rating affirmation and removal from CreditWatch follows a preliminary review of operating conditions in the newspaper publishing business and the potential impact on Gannett's performance," S&P credit analyst Peggy Hwan Hebard said in a written statement.

"While we have meaningful concerns about recent operating trends, we have determined that a downgrade, if any, to Gannett's long-term rating stemming from our current review would be limited to one notch. Thus, the short-term rating will not be affected by the outcome of the review," Hebard said.

The CreditWatch followed the company's announcement that it plans to increase its dividend by 29% to $1.60 per share, totaling roughly $375 million on an annualized basis, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.