By: E&P Staff Washington Post Co. said Friday its third-quarter profit rose 10%, pushed by gains from the sale of properties and marketable securities that were partially offset by revenue declines in its newspaper and magazine divisions.
Net income for the third quarter was $73.3 million, or $7.60 per share, compared to net income of $66.6 million, or $6.89 per share, in the same quarter of 2005.
Third-quarter revenue $946.9 million, up 8% from $873.7 million in the year-ago period, the company said. The increase was due mostly to "significant revenue growth" at its education, cable television and television broadcast divisions, offset by declining revenues in its newspaper and magazine divisions, the Post Co. said.
The results were lower than analysts expectations, according to the poll by Thomson Financial, which said analysts were looking for earnings of $8.62 per share on sales of $963.5 million.
Third-quarter revenue from the newspaper publishing division totaled $225.6 million, a decrease of 4% from $235.5 million in the third quarter of 2005.
Newspaper operating income in the quarter plummeted 38% to $17.7 million, from $28.6 million in the third quarter of 2005.
The Post Co. blamed the third-quarter decline on a decrease in print advertising revenue at The Washington Post, and increased pension expense, offset by a $2.3 million pre-tax gain on the sale of property.
Third-quarter print ad revenue at the Post was off 11% to $129.4 million, from $145.3 million in 2005.
The decline was driven by decreases in classified, national and retail ad revenues, the company said.
Classified recruitment advertising revenue declined 23% to $17.0 million for the third quarter, it said.
For the first nine months of 2006, Post daily circulation was down 2.9% while Sunday circ was off 3.6% from the same period a year ago.
Online revenue, mostly from washingtonpost.com, was up 24% to $24.5 million in the quarter.
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