Gannett, based in McLean, VA, reported financial results for 2023, including digital-only subscription revenues growing 18.1% year-over-year

“In 2023, we made excellent progress executing on our strategy to drive our digital transformation, resulting in total digital revenues exceeding 41% of total revenues in the fourth quarter, and amounting to nearly $1.1 billion for the year. Over the past year, we’ve expanded our digital audience, improved engagement, grown the monetization of our audience, and driven significantly improved financial results over the prior year. Our digital-only subscription revenues surpassed $150 million in 2023, with total digital-only average revenue per user reaching a new high. Also, our partnership strategy increased our overall digital monetization, and importantly, we expect to generate $20 million in high margin revenue from our partnerships in 2024,” said Michael Reed, Gannett Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer.

“In 2023, we achieved full year growth in both Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow, representing an important change in trajectory compared to last year’s declines. We also remained focused on improving our capital structure and, with over $140 million in debt repayments in 2023, we were able to significantly reduce our leverage during the year. As these results show, we are building momentum toward a sustainable digital growth business, with a strong balance sheet.”

“As we look forward to 2024 and the next several years, we expect to capitalize on this progress and build to inflection in our revenue as we end 2024. Our business outlook reflects our investments in strategy and our prioritization of revenue and free cash flow growth while also maintaining ongoing profit improvements and further deleveraging. We believe 2024 is an important milestone in the foundation for creating sustainable growth for Gannett.”

Fourth Quarter 2023 Digital Highlights:

• Total digital revenues of $277.1 million, or 41.4% of total revenues, up 2.9% versus the prior year
• Digital-only subscription revenues of $41.9 million grew 18.1% year-over-year
• Digital-only average revenue per user of $7.05 increased 19.5% year-over-year
• Total digital-only paid subscriptions were approximately 2.0 million, sequential growth of 1.6%
• 187 million global average monthly unique visitors in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 4.3% year-over-year
• Digital Media revenues of $78.8 million grew 3.9% year-over-year
• Digital Marketing Solutions core platform revenues of $119.4 million decreased 0.3% year-over year
  • Record high core platform average revenue per user of $2,663, up 2.1% year-over-year
  • Customer budget retention was 95.4%, an increase of 50 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2022

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