Gannett Co. cuts dividend

Gannett Co. announced today that it was lowering its quarterly dividend for the first time ever, according to The Chicago Tribune.
The new payment will be four cents per share, down from forty cents per share last quarter.

With the reduction, the dividend will now be a penny lower than when Gannett made its first split-adjusted payment of 5.4 cents per share in October 1967.
Gannett will save about $325 million annually with the move, but it may give investors one fewer reason to hold on to the company's sagging stock.

According to the article, three other large publishers have gone further and eliminated their quarterly dividend entirely in order to save money.
Gannet Co.'s debt obligations totaled $3.8 billion as of the end of last year.

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