Saturday, January 17, 2009

McClatchy placed on bankruptcy watch list

24/7 Wall Street has placed McClatchy on their bankruptcy watch list.
From time to time, the editors at 24/7 Wall St. look at the odds that a number of companies may have to file for Chapter 11 over the course of the next year. The analysis involves looking at SEC filings with a focus on balance sheet, cash flow, and risk factors. Also taken into account are stock price, earnings forecasts, and the ability of a company to raise cash.

In the current credit environment, many firms which would not have been on the list at the middle of last year would have to be considered now. We are covering what we feel are the chances that companies will be in front of a bankruptcy situation.

Here is how they size up MNI:
McClatchy (MNI) 1 in 2. Newspaper revenue in free fall. Stock at $1.10, down over 90% in last year.

Of course since this analysis was published MNI's stock has fallen lower -- it closed Friday at 81 cents a share.

Hat tip: Archer05
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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think their odds are too conservative. For MNI, I see them more like 2 to 1, and likely to happen before mid-year.

Walter Abbott

Anonymous said...

The odds may become clear after Feb. 5th. The little fairytale about Pruitt being a spinner of gold may not end, ‘Happily ever after.’

Anonymous said...

Archer05 -- Good point about Feb. 5th -- by then, I wouldn't be surprised if MNI is trading well below the current 52 week low of 62 cents a share.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of golden boy:

How times change, a few short years ago, this was the spin:
“Gary Pruitt, CEO of McClatchy Co. — and journalism’s golden boy of the moment —”

What metal would describe him now? I vote for pig iron.

Anonymous said...

Write the obituary, it’s over for McClatchy.

Anonymous said...

Pruitt is a lead sinker.

Anonymous said...

Even if Pruitt is canned, what talented CEO would want to steer McCrappy? They can't get anybody who is a real talent to run the company. They'd have to promote management scraps who are still with the company, people who can't get a job anywhere else.