Washington Post, Quarterly Earnings | featured news

The Washington Post Co. reported a fourth quarter 2012 loss of $45.4 million, or $6.57 a share as it took $113 million of charges for goodwill write downs and restructuring, mostly in its Kaplan education subsidiary. A year earlier the company earned $61.7 million or $8.03 a share

Washington Post posted a profit as the company recorded fewer restructuring charges, although revenue was flat as its education division continued to struggle.

Online ad revenues rose 8 percent at the news division in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, reversing recent declines. But the $2 million increase in online revenues covered only a small part of the $9.9 million decline in print ads.

Washington Post Co. reported a rise in first-quarter earnings that reflected a write-down a year earlier and that masked further weakness in the company's education centers.

The Washington Post Co. on Friday reported a 50 percent drop in second-quarter earnings, with revenue continuing to plummet in the Kaplan Higher Education Unit and both the online and print operations of the newspaper division seeing declines in advertising revenue. Overall profits for the quarter that ended July 3 totaled $45.6 million ($5.74 per share), the company said, compared with $91.9 million ($10.00 per share) a year earlier. Revenue increased at The Post Co.’s television broadcasting and cable television divisions.