The Georgia Straight is reporting that Black Press, the owners of the Abbotsford News are set to sell their headquarters in Victoria:
Black Press appears poised to sell Victoria building
Black Press is about to close a deal to sell its 30,000 square-foot building in the 800 block of Broughton Street. (That’s one block up the street from the Victoria Public Library central branch).
According to an article by Andrew Duffy, Black Press listed the building and adjacent parking lot for $7.65 million.
http://www.timescolonist.com/business/developer-chard-eyes-black-press-building-in-victoria-1.641720
The Georgia Straight reported that:
Then in November 2012, Standard & Poor’s cut Black Press’s credit rating to B- “based on our view of the company’s ongoing organic revenue and profit declines, as well as refinancing risk”.
However, the two ratings agencies improved their outlook this summer.
In July, Standard & Poor’s maintained the B- rating, but revised its outlook upward from “negative” to “stable”.
The same month, Moody’s Investors Service revised Black Press’s rating from “under review” to “stable”.
Earlier this month the Straight reported on the changes coming about due to decreased revenue at the Vancouver Sun/Province:
Kennedy Heights printing plant for sale, claims union for Vancouver Sun and Province employees
“The Kennedy Heights printing plant will be put up for sale and operations there will cease sometime in 2015, the union was told today by Paul Godfrey, CEO of Postmedia,” the union stated.
In the last quarter, Postmedia reported a loss of $112 millionbefore income taxes.
This came on the heels of news that Glacier Media, ownwers of The Abbotsford Times, have posted 2nd quarter results showing weak revenues at its papers in the suburbs.
Glacier’s 2nd Quarter Report Indicates Weakness In Urban Market Newspapers
Glacier, owners of the Chilliwack Times, Langley Advance, Abbotsford Times and Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Times, has seen its share price take a slow but steady beating over the last year.