USA Today-publisher Gannett raises profit targets as ad demand rebounds

(Reuters) - USA Today-publisher Gannett Co boosted its annual earnings expectations on Thursday, as advertising demand recovers from post-pandemic lows.

Advertising budgets were hit earlier this year by an uncertain economy as rapid interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve to clamp inflation fueled fears of a recession. But cooling inflation has put ad spend on track for a rebound later this year.

The largest U.S. newspaper chain, shares in which have risen over a third this year, sued Google in June for trying to corner the market for online advertising by monopolizing ad technology.

Gannett's revenue from advertising and marketing services fell 8% to $353.3 million in the second quarter ended June 30 from a year earlier.

Its digital subscription revenue rose 17% to $37.9 million, helping the company record a narrower net loss of $12.7 million, down from $53.7 million, a year earlier.

Gannett, which has more than 200 daily newspapers, forecast between a loss of $10 million and a profit of $20 million for the year, compared with its previous forecast between a loss of $15 million and a profit of $15 million.

Analysts on average expect 2023 profit of $8.2 million, according to Refinitiv data.

The company reiterated annual revenue between $2.75 billion and $2.80 billion, above estimates of $2.74 billion.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)