P. M. BRIEFING : Gannett Sees Lower Earnings in 1st Quarterly Drop in 22 Yrs.

Gannett Co. today said that it expects its second quarter earnings to be lower than a year earlier, its first quarterly drop since the company went public 22 years ago.

Sheila Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the nation’s biggest newspaper company, said Gannett would issue its actual earnings report for the April-June period in a few weeks.

Gannett stock was down 50 cents at $36.62 1/2 a share in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Douglas McCorkindale, Gannett’s vice chairman and chief financial officer, first projected an earnings decline during an interview published in today’s editions of The Wall Street Journal.

A decline in earnings would indicate how Gannett is being affected by a slump that has hit the entire newspaper industry. A number of Wall Street analysts have forecast declines for earnings of many newspaper publishers because of the soft ad revenue.

“We started to see softness in advertising business in 1989, and have been getting softer in the last eight to 12 months,” McCorkindale said. “We have not seen any signs of improved business conditions.”

The expected earnings decline would come at a difficult time for Gannett.

The Gannett Foundation, the company’s largest shareholder, announced April 26 that it planned to sell its 10% stake. A weak stock price could make the company a possible takeover target.