11:17 AM Fri, Aug 22, 2008 | Permalink
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GateHouse Media, the financially-troubled company that owns the Herald News of Fall River and the Taunton Daily Gazette in Massachusetts, said it is replacing its chief financial officer.
Mark Thompson has resigned for personal reasons, Gatehouse said, and will be replaced by Mark Maring as interim CFO. Maring currently serves as Vice President Investor Relations and Strategic Development and will continue to oversee these responsibilities. Thompson has agreed to stay on with Gatehouse until September 28 and work with Maring.
The transition occurs after GateHouse Media, Inc., headquartered in Fairport, New York, earlier this month suspended its quarterly dividend and said it will use the savings to reduce debt. The company will also issue $11.5 million of preferred stock to a fund managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group, the publisher's largest shareholder. The company has $1.22 billion of long-term debt.
GateHouse cut its quarterly dividend to 20 cents from 40 cents in March after newspaper writedowns led to a fourth- quarter loss of $214.6 million. Rising paper prices and declining classified advertising are pressuring GateHouse to reduce expenses and free up cash. The company's second-quarter net loss widened to $443.3 million, or $7.77 a share, from $2 million, or 5 cents, a year earlier. The loss reflected a $443 million writedown of assets, triggered by a drop in the shares. Revenue rose 17 percent to $184.1 million from $158 million a year ago, GateHouse said.
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Gatehouse made foolish choices in the beginning, buying up newspapers in a dying industry. Looks like they were just trying to build up their portfolio. Look where it got them. Just cause you wear a suit and have a college degree doesn't mean you make the best business decisions. Street smarts over book smarts anyday. Some of those bigwigs should have tried working in the real world before making some of the decisions that they made. I was in the newspaper business for 23 years, more than half my life before Gatehouse took it away and outsourced it. I told them this would happen. they should have invested in what they already had before getting into the trouble that they are in now.
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