Post by bob q on Jan 13, 2012 14:28:25 GMT -5
MaineToday Media’s Big Debts and Big Salaries
Submitted by Al Diamon on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 11:00am.
Maine Media
Connor’s legacy: The Jan. 11 Portland Daily Sun has a fascinating story by David Carkhuff on the financial health of the MaineToday Media newspapers, which include the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. According to documents filed in a court case against MTM, the company owes $7.6 million to RBS Citizens, N.A., a Delaware-based lender that has placed a lien on all MaineToday’s assets.
As a result, MTM’s lawyer says it can neither pay McGrann Paper Corp. of Charlotte, N.C. for newsprint it bought nor return the unused paper. McGrann sued MaineToday last year for the $124,000 overdue payment. According to a document McGrann filed in the case that’s quoted in the Sun story, “Amid cash flow problems, plans to restructure and the looming possibility of bankruptcy, Maine Today began stockpiling paper in an effort to continue meeting its printing needs before McGrann learned of its inability to pay.”
MaineToday’s chief financial officer Patrick Sweeney responded to the suit, writing that “unforeseen constraints on MTM's cash flow made it impossible for MTM to make immediate payment.”
What were those constraints? In part, it appears to be the enormous salary paid to since-departed CEO Richard Connor. Connor was pushed out by MaineToday’s board of directors in October. The split was the result of the board’s discovery of the company’s precarious financial situation and questions about payments for management services. Company president Dale Duncan was also let go, as was vice president of advertising Michelle Lester (who departed a week after Duncan). According to the court filings, that reduction in management saved MaineToday $1.5 million a year. Other sources say most of that figure represents payments to Connor in both salary and perks. If those figures are correct, it means the company CEO was drawing a huge paycheck at the same time he was laying off workers and failing to pay the bills.
Submitted by Al Diamon on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 11:00am.
Maine Media
Connor’s legacy: The Jan. 11 Portland Daily Sun has a fascinating story by David Carkhuff on the financial health of the MaineToday Media newspapers, which include the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. According to documents filed in a court case against MTM, the company owes $7.6 million to RBS Citizens, N.A., a Delaware-based lender that has placed a lien on all MaineToday’s assets.
As a result, MTM’s lawyer says it can neither pay McGrann Paper Corp. of Charlotte, N.C. for newsprint it bought nor return the unused paper. McGrann sued MaineToday last year for the $124,000 overdue payment. According to a document McGrann filed in the case that’s quoted in the Sun story, “Amid cash flow problems, plans to restructure and the looming possibility of bankruptcy, Maine Today began stockpiling paper in an effort to continue meeting its printing needs before McGrann learned of its inability to pay.”
MaineToday’s chief financial officer Patrick Sweeney responded to the suit, writing that “unforeseen constraints on MTM's cash flow made it impossible for MTM to make immediate payment.”
What were those constraints? In part, it appears to be the enormous salary paid to since-departed CEO Richard Connor. Connor was pushed out by MaineToday’s board of directors in October. The split was the result of the board’s discovery of the company’s precarious financial situation and questions about payments for management services. Company president Dale Duncan was also let go, as was vice president of advertising Michelle Lester (who departed a week after Duncan). According to the court filings, that reduction in management saved MaineToday $1.5 million a year. Other sources say most of that figure represents payments to Connor in both salary and perks. If those figures are correct, it means the company CEO was drawing a huge paycheck at the same time he was laying off workers and failing to pay the bills.