A. H. Belo Corp. Announces Second Quarter Dividend, Agreement with Hearst Corporation, Voluntary Contribution to Pension Plan...
March 09 2012 - 6:00AM
Business Wire
A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC) announced today that the
Company’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of
$0.06 per share, payable on June 1, 2012 to shareholders of record
at the close of business on May 11, 2012. This dividend will be the
Company’s fifth since reinstating its dividend in May 2011.
The Company also announced that The Dallas Morning News reached
an agreement with LocalEdge™, Hearst Corporation’s full-service
Internet marketing business, for The Morning News to resell
LocalEdge’s digital solutions to small and medium businesses in
Dallas/Fort Worth. These solutions include website development and
maintenance, video, search engine marketing, search engine
optimization, mobile advertising and email marketing. The Morning
News will also offer sophisticated advertising analytics and
reputation management services.
James M. Moroney III, publisher and Chief Executive Officer of
The Dallas Morning News, said, “This agreement enables The Dallas
Morning News to offer proven digital marketing solutions to small
and medium businesses in Dallas/Fort Worth. Small and medium
businesses are increasing their marketing spend on digital products
and services at a rapid rate. By leveraging Hearst’s substantial
investments and operating experience with LocalEdge, The Morning
News is poised to grow this new revenue stream rapidly and
meaningfully.”
As indicated in the Company’s year-end earnings press release on
February 21, The Dallas Morning News will invest approximately $3
million into the launch of LocalEdge products and services in 2012.
The investment is primarily for the recruitment and development of
a new 50-person sales team focused solely on this initiative. This
team is designed and incentivized to profitably meet the
specialized needs of small and medium businesses, and the team’s
efforts will be supported by targeted marketing campaigns.
Annual revenue from LocalEdge solutions is projected between
$2.5 million and $3.0 million in 2012 and between $18.0 and $20.0
million annually by 2014. The Morning News expects this initiative
to turn cash flow positive in late 2013 and recoup the entire
front-end investment by mid-2015.
Voluntary Contribution to Pension
Plans
The Board authorized the Company to make a $10 million voluntary
contribution to the Company’s defined benefit plans at some point
in 2012. Provided the plans’ aggregate discount rate stabilizes and
investment performance meets or exceeds expectations, the Company
does not anticipate making further voluntary contributions to its
pension plans for the foreseeable future.
Annual Meeting of Shareholders and
Investor Day
The Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders will take place on
Thursday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m. CDT. Shareholders will consider the
re-election of three Class I Directors: John A. Beckert, Dealey D.
Herndon and Ronald D. McCray. Beckert joined the Board in September
2011. A longtime Dallas resident, Beckert has more than 30 years of
senior management experience in the hotel and club development
industry, as well as private equity investing. Nicole G. Small, a
Class II Director, will also stand for re-election. Small, a Dallas
native, joined the Board in September 2011 and currently serves as
Chief Executive Officer of the Dallas Museum of Nature &
Science.
At the Annual Meeting, shareholders will be asked to ratify the
appointment of KPMG LLP as A. H. Belo’s independent registered
public accounting firm for 2012.
The Company’s 2012 Investor Day is planned to take place on the
morning of Thursday, October 4 in Dallas, Texas near the Company’s
headquarters. Robert W. Decherd, chairman, president and Chief
Executive Officer commented on Investor Day saying, “The entire
Management Committee will attend, and joining us this year are
Howard G. Sutton, publisher, president and Chief Executive Officer
of The Providence Journal and Ronald R. Redfern, publisher,
president and Chief Executive Officer of The Press-Enterprise. A
detailed update will be provided on progress we’ve made on our
financial and operating strategies since 2011’s Investor Day. We
look forward to seeing you in Dallas.”
For additional information about Investor Day and to reserve
your attendance, please call 214-977-4816. Investor Day will be
simultaneously webcast on the Company’s website at
www.ahbelo.com/invest. An archive and transcript of the webcast
will be available at www.ahbelo.com in the Investor Relations
section.
About A. H. Belo
Corporation
A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC), headquartered in Dallas,
Texas, is a distinguished newspaper publishing and local news and
information company that owns and operates four daily newspapers
and a diverse group of websites. A. H. Belo publishes The Dallas
Morning News, Texas’ leading newspaper and winner of nine Pulitzer
Prizes; The Providence Journal, the oldest continuously-published
daily newspaper in the U.S. and winner of four Pulitzer Prizes; The
Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA), serving the Inland Southern
California region and winner of one Pulitzer Prize; and the Denton
Record-Chronicle. The Company publishes various niche publications
targeting specific audiences, and its partnerships and/or
investments include the Yahoo! Newspaper Consortium and Classified
Ventures, owner of Cars.com. A. H. Belo also owns and operates
commercial printing, distribution and direct mail service
businesses. Additional information is available at www.ahbelo.com
or by contacting David A. Gross, vice president/Investor Relations
and Strategic Analysis, at 214-977-4810.
Statements in this communication concerning A. H. Belo
Corporation's (the "Company's") business outlook or future economic
performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses,
dividends, capital expenditures, investments, impairments, pension
plan contributions, real estate sales, future financings, and other
financial and non-financial items that are not historical facts,
are "forward-looking statements" as the term is defined under
applicable federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are
subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those statements.
Such risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not
limited to, changes in capital market conditions and prospects, and
other factors such as changes in advertising demand and newsprint
prices; newspaper circulation trends and other circulation matters,
including changes in readership methods, patterns and demography,
and audits and related actions by the Audit Bureau of Circulations;
challenges implementing increased subscription pricing and new
pricing structures; challenges in achieving expense reduction
goals, and on schedule, and the resulting potential effects on
operations; technological changes; development of Internet
commerce; industry cycles; changes in pricing or other actions by
existing and new competitors and suppliers; labor relations;
regulatory, tax and legal changes; adoption of new accounting
standards or changes in existing accounting standards by the
Financial Accounting Standards Board or other accounting
standard-setting bodies or authorities; the effects of Company
acquisitions, dispositions, co-owned ventures, and investments;
pension plan matters; general economic conditions and changes in
interest rates; significant armed conflict; and other factors
beyond our control, as well as other risks described in
the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2010, and other public disclosures and filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A H Belo (NYSE:AHC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2024 to Oct 2024
A H Belo (NYSE:AHC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2023 to Oct 2024