Service Performance Remains Steady Across Postal Service Network

Sales of print book got off to a slow holiday season start as units fell 3% in the Thanksgiving week ended November 26, compared to the comparable week in 2016, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Units fell 9% in the mass merchandiser channel compared to last year, while sales to retailers and clubs slipped 1%. The top-selling title in the week was Jeff Kinney’s newest Wimpy Kid book, The Getaway, which sold over 139,000 copies. A new release, Pete the Cat, by James Dean was in second place with over 104,000 copies sold. Four “5 Minute” Disney books also had a strong first week of sales with 5 Minute Disney Snuggle Stories, 5 Minute Disney Disney Princess, 5 Minute Disney Pixar, and 5 Minute Disney Avengers selling a total of roughly 281,000 copies in their first week on sale. Despite the the 3% decline in overall sales for the week, print units were still up 2% in the first 47 weeks of 2017, over 2016.

“Recognizing that issues in certain facilities across the country continue to hamper service performance, we have come together to form a National Joint Task Force on Service Performance to identify and craft solutions to improve service at specific locations within the network. Members of the Joint Task Force will work together on making necessary changes to strengthen service reliability, share best practices and stay vigilant to any emerging issues. The National Task Force will also ensure resources are allocated, lines of communication are open and concerns that are not resolved locally are escalated quickly. Maintaining strong service performance is a process, not a destination; through weather, natural disasters and a holiday season in the midst of a pandemic. Mail never stops flowing through our system. If bottlenecks occur it can have a cascading impact on the network. Addressing issues early can make all the difference.” The National Task Force held their first meeting on March 22.

Gannett Co., Inc. announced it will repurchase $14.0 million of 6.00% first lien notes due November 1, 2026 for approximately $12.0 million, representing a discount to par value. The transaction is expected to close on November 17, 2023. In connection with the repurchase of the 2026 Senior Notes, the Company will receive a waiver from certain lenders under its five-year senior secured term loan facility that will reduce the scheduled amortization payment for the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2023 payable to those lenders by the amount spent by the Company to repurchase the 2026 Senior Notes. "We continue to opportunistically take out additional senior notes below par value by working with our lenders, and this repurchase mirrors the executed agreement announced in mid-September," said Michael Reed, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "With the closing of this transaction, and subsequent to the third quarter, we will have repaid $20.2 million of debt, which will bring our year-to-date total to approximately $138.0 million, which exceeds our initial projections outlined at the beginning of the year.