Post Co. profit rises 68% as newspaper stems loss
Recession fuels further decline of advertising revenue
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Third-quarter profit at The Washington Post Co. rose 68 percent compared with the same period last year, as the flagship newspaper trimmed losses and the company's education and cable businesses kept growing.
The Post Co. earned $17.1 million ($1.81 per share) on $1.15 billion in revenue during the period from July to September, the company said Friday, compared with $10.4 million ($1.08) on $1.13 billion in revenue in the third quarter of last year.
The company's newspaper division, which includes The Post and several smaller papers, lost $23.6 million in the quarter, bringing 2009 losses to $166.7 million, compared with losses of $178.3 million through the first nine months of 2008. Like most newspapers, The Post was hit hard by the recession, which further eroded advertising revenue, already in decline for years.
Ad revenue at The Post was down 28 percent on the quarter, from $97.2 million in the same period last year to $70 million this year. Over the first nine months of the year, print ad revenue at The Post was down 27 percent.
Revenue at The Post's online division, mainly Washingtonpost.com, was down 18 percent on the quarter, from $27.4 million in the same period last year to $22.6 million this year. Over the first nine months of this year, online ad revenue was down 12 percent.
Daily circulation at The Post was down 3.6 percent for the first nine months of the year, and now stands at 600,800. Sunday circulation was down 3.7 percent and is now 840,100.
In addition to the newspaper, The Post Co. owns Kaplan Inc. educational business, CableOne, a small cable company whose customers live mainly in the Northwest and Gulf States, six television stations and several other print and online publications, including Slate, Express and El Tiempo Latino.
Kaplan continues to be the company's biggest revenue generator. The education business, which includes online and brick-and-mortar higher education campuses in addition to test prep, reported $685 million in third-quarter revenue, or 60 percent of The Post Co.'s total revenue. Revenue was up 14 percent in the third quarter, while operating income at Kaplan was $46 million, down 10 percent from the third quarter of last year because of a $25.4 million write-down in the value of some business units.
CableOne reported a 4 percent gain in third-quarter revenue, at $190 million, and a 3 percent drop in operating income, both compared with this time last year, owing to increased costs in the quarter. Operating income for the first nine months of this year was up 5 percent.
The advertising downturn has hit the company's television stations as well. Television revenue was down 17 percent compared with last year while operating income plunged 50 percent.
Shares of Post Co. stock closed down 4.4 percent at $432 during Friday's broad market sell-off.
