The Providence Journal will now be directly overseen by its Dallas-based parent company’s chief executive.

John McKeon, president and general manager of The Dallas Morning News, will leave the company before June 30 and won’t be replaced, A.H. Belo said Thursday. McKeon earned $1.3 million in 2010, his first year on the job, and A.H. Belo paid $3.1 million to buy his old house as part of a relocation agreement.

Jim Moroney, the Dallas paper’s publisher, will take over McKeon’s duties. Providence Journal publisher Howard Sutton, who had reported to McKeon, will now report directly to A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd, the company said.

A.H. Belo also offered a bullish preview of its fourth-quarter earnings report, saying its earnings are “exceeding expectations” and will top $45 million for the full year before accounting for interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, pension and impairment expenses and net investment-related losses.

Total revenue in the fourth-quarter decreased 4% to 5% from a year earlier, “an improvement in the rate of decline,” Decherd said in a statement. November revenue was “about flat … due primarily to improving advertising trends” at all three of the company’s papers, he said.

A.H. Belo closed at $4.85 a share in New York Stock Exchange trading on Thursday, up 1 cent. The company’s stock plunged 45% in 2011, third-most in the newspaper industry, media analyst Alan Mutter said Tuesday.

More Providence Journal and A.H. Belo coverage:

• Projo paywall will prove pivotal to paper’s long-term health (Dec. 29)
• Projo’s own ‘pension puzzle’: paper froze its underfunded plan (Dec. 12)
• Projo to cut newsroom staff amid ongoing ad, circulation slump (Dec. 2)
• A.H. Belo’s surprising success amid the newspaper storm (May 18)
• Projo falls below $100M mark as half of ads evaporate (March 14)
• No reason for Belo to sell Projo with price at $51 million (Dec. 28, 2010)