By: The Washington Post Co. turned a profit in the second quarter as growth in its education and cable TV divisions helped offset declines in newspaper, magazine and broadcast revenue.
The company, which owns Newsweek magazine, Kaplan education services and television properties along with its namesake newspaper, said Friday it earned $12.2 million, or $1.30 per share. That compares with a year-earlier loss of $2.9 million, or 31 cents per share.
Revenue edged up 2 percent to $1.13 billion.
The company said its profit was lowered by $56.8 million in early retirement costs at The Washington Post and a $14.3 million charge to account for the declining value of the newspaper. The company also incurred $15.2 million in restructuring charges at Kaplan.
However its profits were boosted $19.8 million by the weakening U.S. dollar. When the U.S. currency is weaker, revenue that companies get in foreign currencies translates into more dollars.
This quarter continued the Post Co.'s reliance on education services and cable TV. Education revenues grew 13 percent to $649.3 million and cable posted a 4 percent gain to $186.7 million.
Meanwhile sales in the newspaper division tumbled 14 percent to $168.8 million. Broadcast TV fell 20 percent to $66.7 million and the magazine division plunged 27 percent to $45.5 million.
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