Ticker: Sept. 29
Gannett Co Inc.’s forecasted third-quarter profit of 39 cents to 42 cents a share, which was well above analyst estimates, sent its share price soaring 18 percent in early trading today, according to Reuters.com. Gannett forecasted third-quarter revenue between $1.31 and $1.32 billion, which was short of the $1.37 billion Wall Street expected. A statement from Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martone pointed to a difficult, but improving, advertising market as reason for the lower than expected revenue estimates. Martone cited cost-cutting maneuvers by the company as helping it weather the suffering advertising revenues. According to Reuters.com, analysts said lower expenses from cost cutting, not higher sales, were the reason for the forecasted increase in profit per share.
Four Iowa media outlets received a 2009 Regional Emmy Award. The Des Moines Register won two Emmys, one for its Buddy Holly project in the “Advanced Media -Documentary: Historical/Cultural” category, and one for a video about the Aplington-Parkersburg football team’s first game after the 2008 tornado in the “Advanced Media – Sports” category. KCCI’s Courtney Kintzer won an Emmy for news photography, Iowa Public Television won for a documentary on Iowa’s one-room schoolhouses, and Mediacom won for its live coverage of a Drake men’s basketball game.
A Taiwanese trade delegation has agreed to buy Iowa corn and corn byproducts valued at between $1.7 billion and $2.4 billion in 2010 and 2011, the Iowa Corn Growers Association said. The agreement between the Taiwan Feed Industry Association of the Republic of China and Iowa corn producers spells out a purchase of between 303 million to 413 million bushels of corn and up to 0.75 metric tons of dried distiller’s grains. Last year, Iowa exports to Taiwan totaled $85 million, making the country the 20th-largest export market for Iowa. Taiwan is the seventh-largest export market for U.S. agricultural goods, the Corn Growers Association said.
More than 250 volunteers from Meredith Corp. will work within the Capitol East neighborhood to complete essential repairs and weatherization projects for homeowners, as part of Meredith’s annual Rebuilding Together day on Oct. 8. More than 50 homes and buildings in the Capitol East area will receive attention, including work on nonprofit facilities that serve that community.
Lessing-Flynn launched a new turnkey service developed to assist businesses in both developing and executing social media marketing strategies. The new service, called Reel Social, will help marketers tap into the marketing potential of social media tools like twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs. “Most companies know there is tremendous potential in social media marketing, because research shows that’s where people are spending more and more of their time,” said Josh Fleming, interactive marketing director at Lessing-Flynn. “However, most either don’t know where to start, don’t know how to use social media effectively or just don’t have the internal resources to do it themselves. Reel Social is an economical, efficient way to do it right.”
Concerns about retail sales for the upcoming holiday season spiked this morning as The Conference Board, a New York-based business research group, said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 53.1 in September from 54.5 in August, CNNMoney.com reported. According to a Briefing.com consensus survey, economists were expecting a reading of 57, CNNMoney.com reported.