OUTLOOK IS eCAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC'.

At a presentation to media stock analysts last week in New York, Gannett Co. Inc. spoke in rather rosy terms about the remainder of the quarter and through the rest of the year. Additionally, along with their February results, two other multimedia companies commented positively on their potential earnings per share (EPS), while one wasn't quite so positive.

But Gannett's Douglas McCorkindale, chairman, president and chief executive, did use the phrase "cautiously optimistic" when he was making his predictions for the rest of the year.

"Our economic and geographic diversity is a major asset," said Gary Watson, president of Gannett's newspaper division. "Employment revenues year-to-date across all product lines are up and we expect that trend to continue as we cycle the Iraq invasion a year ago." Revenues from non-daily publications are up about 30 percent year-to-date in 2004 and on-line employment revenues are growing in the upper double-digit range."

McCorkindale also cited the upcoming Olympic Games as an event that will generate revenue.

He told the analysts that the company should be able to meet the consensus earnings estimates of 99 cents per share for the first quarter.

Media General Inc. said that its "expectations" for the first quarter are in line with consensus estimates of an EPS of 31 cents per share.

The New York Times Co. said in the February results press release that it expects that EPS will "be in the range of 33 cents to 36 cents versus 45 cents in the same quarter of 2003." The company said a number of non-revenue items in 2003 added about seven cents to the first quarter EPS.

Pulitzer Inc. cited "unanticipated softness from major retail advertisers, particularly in St. Louis" as reason for analysts to be wary of its December projection of a full-year EPS of $2.10. The company also said that start-up costs for a direct mail business in St. Louis were higher than expected.

It's the near-term economic future of the newspaper business wrapped up in four companies: three-quarters have a positive or cautious outlook, while one-quarter is saying that 2004 remains "challenging."