UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 4, 2008

 

A. H. BELO CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware		1-33741		38-3765318
(State or other jurisdiction		(Commission File Number)		(I.R.S. Employer
of incorporation)				Identification No.)

P. O. Box 224866
Dallas, Texas		75222-4866
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (214) 977-8200

Not Applicable
(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o		Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o		Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o		Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o		Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

 

Item 8.01.		Other Events.

On September 4, 2008, A. H. Belo Corporation announced the completion of its voluntary severance program and the commencement of an involuntary reduction in force. Also on September 4, 2008, Jim Moroney, Executive Vice President of A. H. Belo, sent a letter to employees announcing the completion of the voluntary severance program and the necessity of a follow-on involuntary reduction in force. A copy of the press release and employee letter are posted on the Company’s Web site (www.ahbelo.com) in the Investor Relations section. A copy of the press release and employee letter are furnished with this report as Exhibits 99.1 and 99.2, respectively.

Item 9.01.		Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

99.1		A. H. Belo Corporation Press Release dated September 4, 2008
99.2		A. H. Belo Corporation Employee Letter dated September 4, 2008

Signatures

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

EXHIBIT INDEX

99.1		A. H. Belo Corporation Press Release dated September 4, 2008
99.2		A. H. Belo Corporation Employee Letter dated September 4, 2008

Exhibit 99.1

		FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
		Thursday, September 4, 2008
		4:00 P.M. CDT

VOLUNTARY SEVERANCE PROGRAM IS COMPLETED

     DALLAS – A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC) said today that the voluntary severance offer (VSO) extended to the Company’s newspaper employees in July has been completed. Overall, 413 employees will leave the company under the VSO – 270 at The Dallas Morning News, 23 at The Providence Journal, and 120 at The Press-Enterprise. The total cost of the VSO is approximately $11.2 million, the majority of which will be expensed in the third quarter.

     In addition, an involuntary reduction in force will be completed by mid-to-late October to achieve the necessary remaining workforce reductions. The expense related to the reduction in force is estimated at $2.4 million and will be recorded in the fourth quarter. The reduction in force is limited to the news, production, customer retention call center, and Al Día departments at The Dallas Morning News; the news, consumer sales, packaging and production departments (excluding pressroom) at The Press-Enterprise; and, the news, editorial, advertising and promotion departments, subject to contractual obligations, at The Providence Journal.

     The combined workforce reductions are expected to result in a savings of more than $29 million on an annualized basis.

     Robert W. Decherd, chairman, president and Chief Executive Officer, said, “These job actions are part of a restructuring of our newspaper operations that accelerates the allocation of resources to promising new print and online products while focusing our workforce on A. H. Belo’s local content creation and sales capabilities. We greatly appreciate the dedication and service of all A. H. Belo employees who are leaving the Company under the voluntary severance program. I’m confident that we’re taking the right steps to realign our resources to meet consumer and advertiser needs while maintaining the exceptional quality of A. H. Belo’s journalistic products.”

- more -

Voluntary Severance Program is Completed
September 4, 2008
Page Two

     A copy of the letter sent to operating company employees today by Jim Moroney, executive vice president of A. H. Belo and Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of The Dallas Morning News is available at www.ahbelo.com/invest.

About A. H. Belo Corporation

     A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC) headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a distinguished news and information company that owns and operates four daily newspapers and 12 associated Web sites. A. H. Belo publishes The Dallas Morning News, Texas’ leading newspaper and winner of eight Pulitzer Prizes since 1986; The Providence Journal, the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the U.S. and winner of four Pulitzer Prizes; The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA), serving southern California’s Inland Empire region and winner of one Pulitzer Prize; and the Denton Record-Chronicle. The Company publishes various specialty publications targeting niche audiences, young adults and the fast-growing Hispanic market. A. H. Belo also owns direct mail and commercial printing businesses. Additional information is available at www.ahbelo.com or by contacting Maribel Correa, director/Investor Relations, at 214-977-2702.

Statements in this communication concerning A. H. Belo Corporation’s (the “Company’s”) business outlook or future economic performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses, dividends, capital expenditures, investments, future financings, and other financial and non-financial items that are not historical facts, are “forward-looking statements” as the term is defined under applicable federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those statements.

Such risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to, changes in capital market conditions and prospects, and other factors such as changes in advertising demand, interest rates, and newsprint prices; newspaper circulation matters, including changes in readership patterns and demography, and audits and related actions by the Audit Bureau of Circulations; circulation trends; technological changes; development of Internet commerce; industry cycles; changes in pricing or other actions by competitors and suppliers; regulatory, tax and legal changes; adoption of new accounting standards or changes in existing accounting standards by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other accounting standard-setting bodies or authorities; the effects of Company acquisitions, dispositions, co-owned ventures, and investments; general economic conditions; significant armed conflict; and other factors beyond our control, as well as other risks described on Form 10-K and other public disclosures and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Exhibit 99.2

A. H. Belo Corporation

Jim Moroney
Executive Vice President

September 4, 2008

The Voluntary Severance Offer process has been completed at The Dallas Morning News, The Press-Enterprise and The Providence Journal. Everyone who applied should now have received information on whether their request was accepted.

At The Providence Journal, all VSO applications were accepted. At The Dallas Morning News and The Press-Enterprise, some departments had more applications than the number of opportunities available based on the ongoing needs of those companies. As a result, not all applications were accepted. Additionally, there were fewer VSO applications in some departments at all three operating companies than needed. Therefore, the VSO did not fully achieve the workforce reduction goal that was set to meet our business objectives at any of the operating companies. In order to reduce our workforce to the necessary levels we will implement an involuntary reduction in force in specific departments or work groups to be completed in mid-to-late October.

The reduction in force severance package for the involuntary reduction will be 1.25 weeks of severance for each year of service through 20 years; 2.5 weeks of severance for each year of service above 20 years; and a maximum of 35 weeks.

The reduction in force will be limited to the following departments or work groups:

	•		News, Production, the Customer Retention Call Center and Al Día at The Dallas Morning News (approximately 50 positions)
	•		News, Consumer Sales, Packaging and Production (excluding Pressroom) at The Press-Enterprise (approximately 30 positions)
	•		News, Editorial, Advertising and Promotion departments, subject to contractual obligations, at The Providence Journal

These are challenging times that call for difficult decisions. Over the coming months we will work together to address the challenges ahead and focus on making a smooth transition to our newly-aligned organization. As we move forward, it is important that we all continue to focus on the areas that we each can control — our role in supporting the production of outstanding news and information publications and websites and serving our customers.

Thank you for your commitment and contributions to our organization.

Jim

P.O. Box 224866 Dallas, Texas 75222-4866 Tel. 214.977.6685 Fax 214.977.8285
Deliveries: 508 Young Street Dallas, Texas 75202