Tuesday, November 11, 2008

McClatchy hits an all-time low... shares down 15.6 percent Tuesday

McClatchy (MNI) shares fell 15.6 percent Tuesday, closing at $1.56 a share. MNI established a new all-time low of $1.49 during the day.

UPDATE: At the Sun Times, a demand for action -- a major shareholder at the Sun Times has called for changes on the board of directors.

"The current regime of Sun-Times Media Group has overseen a period of substantial loss of value on both an absolute and industry relative basis," he wrote. "K Capital believes a change is needed if this business has any chance of surviving."
The inertia at McClatchy's board of directors is beyond comprehension.
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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damn, how long can this continue. The board of directors has to recognize that Pruitt is a unmitigated disaster. The collapse of MNI began long before this slump began, and MNI is now teetering on bankruptcy. All for some hare-brained scheme to make Pruitt look good in the industry by taking on too much debt to buy failing and bloated KRI newspapers. The obvious solutions like cutting back on that do-nothing Washington bureau have been rejected for destroying the papers themselves. We are in absolutely horrible shape, and Pruitt's only answer is to lard up his office staff with more vice presidents and yes men/women who can absorb the criticism. MNI needs a new business plan, and there is no idea what this means in Sacto.

Kevin Gregory said...

McClatchy's board of directors is weak and passive.

They should have demanded a shakeup months ago.

I keep thinking they'll man up and get serious about making a change, but they never do. Is it a death wish? Are they paralyzed by fear?

Somebody needs to call in a shrink for the board of directors.

Anonymous said...

To think I covered at 1.95 hahaha.

Anyway, y'all have to understand that the family controls everything and the board of directors got their jobs based on that fact.

They are toothless and have no control of anything. Pruitt is there until such time that they can no longer collect the dividends off the stock options that they are being allowed to issue themselves, dries up.

It isn't a matter of saving the company. It is a matter of saving their fortunes.

Anonymous said...

1.54 down almost 17% now.

Anonymous said...

Final close was approximately $1.56

This is what the business world thinks of MNI.

It could only mean that the family wishes to take it back to being a private company OR go chapter 11 which would allow them to renegotiate EVERYTHING from loans and contracts to the everyday workers' wages. Get ready for the old "if you are making $20 per hour, you'll have to take $15".

Anonymous said...

That is almost a 16 percent drop and now MNI faces delisting from the stock exchange, which requires companies to maintain their price above $1. The only way to stop this is to fire Pruitt and the stable of vice presidents he's built up, reorganize and shed some of these loser newspapers. MNI was once a sleepy family-owned concern. Now it is nothing. Wow. I cannot believe what these idiots have done to this company, and they did it after they were warned they were on the wrong track.

Anonymous said...

Pruitt is not the reason that John Q. Reader cancels his subscription to the newspaper.

Biased, agenda driven reporting is the primary reason. People are sick of the media pushing their political agenda and trying to tell us they are unbiased. Unbiased my ass.

If you are a "journalist" and want to know the primary reason you are about to be unemployed, look in the mirror. If you an employee but not working in the newsroom, you can thank the arrogant assholes on the editorial staff and the newsroom staff for your unpaid vacation.

Fundamental law of journalism.... bias = layoffs.

Anonymous said...

..Hmmm. $1.56...$1.59. It's still overpriced by at least $2.00.

Anonymous said...

If you go to the McClatchy web site in the lower right hand corner you will find these words.

A BLUE PRINT FOR SUCCESS.

Are you kidding me?????

Anonymous said...

..Their " Careers " page say's McClatchy newspapers offer satisfying and challenging careers...and reflect the McClatchy's family history of valuing employees.
...Part of their ongoing commitment of speaking truth to power, I suppose. Or perhaps they consider it afflicting the comfortable.

nick said...

I don't think the newspaper industry gets a bailout. Th ere is no crucial need for them to survive. The news ca n get to consumers via radio, TV and the internet.Anyone that thinks the quality will suffer if the ne wsroom gets cut by 25% hasn't been watching these paper s over the years. Quality started slipping three years ago, and it's been a slow drip down to the Journal Regi ster and Gatehouse Media style of journalism ever since . There are still huge body counts that will be cut, an d maybe these cuts will help stock performance in the s hort run. I don't think its right or fair, but a necess ary economic reality needed to cover Pruitt's terminal death act of buying KRI.