Posted on 08/04/2006 10:39:19 AM PDT by abb
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Washington Post Co. (WPO) on Friday reported lower second-quarter net income, as revenue at its magazine publishing division declined. Net income fell to $78.7 million, or $8.17 a share from $78.8 million, or $8.16 a share. Results for the second quarter included charges related to early retirement plan buyouts at The Washington Post newspaper of $3.27 per share and nonrecurring transition costs of 50 cents a share from the recently-acquired Kaplan businesses. These items were offset by 67 cents a share in insurance recoveries from cable division losses related to Hurricane Katrina and non-operating gains from the sales of marketable securities of 24 cents a share. Revenue rose to $969 million from $897.6 million. Analysts, on average, expected it to earn $9.51 a share on revenue of $985.4 million, according to Thomson First Call. End of Story
Ping
Hmmm....sounds like discounting. Not a good sign for the WP.
Washington Post posts flat profit on items By David B. Wilkerson, MarketWatch Last Update: 11:03 AM ET Aug 4, 2006
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) - Washington Post Co. reported a second-quarter profit that was about flat with that of the prior year due to a number of non-recurring items, including costs related to the recent acquisition of education businesses at Kaplan and early retirement plan buyouts at The Post.
The company (WPO) said it earned $78.7 million, or $8.17 a share, compared with a profit of $78.8 million, or $8.16 a share, a year earlier.
Results in the latest three months included more than $57 million in extraordinary items. These include charges related to early retirement plan buyouts at The Washington Post newspaper and the corporate office, costs related to recently acquired Kaplan businesses, and gains on insurance recoveries from cable division losses related to Hurricane Katrina and the sales of marketable securities.
Excluding these items, Washington Post Co. would have earned $9.23 a share in the second quarter of 2006.
Revenue rose 8% to $897.6 million, primarily due to an 18% top-line increase at the Kaplan Education division.
Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting to see a profit of $9.51 a share on revenue of $985.4 million. Washington Post Co. shares were down $5.50 at $760 in morning trading.
At Kaplan, revenue rose to $409.2 million from $345.8 million. Higher education revenue jumped 20%, while supplemental education revenue improved by 17%, bolstered by a 23% top-line improvement in the test preparation category. Newspaper publishing revenue rose 4% to $245.6 million, with most of the growth coming from the company's online properties, Washingtonpost.com and Slate. Print advertising revenue was up just 1% at $148.3 million, reflecting the industry's ongoing difficulties. A large overall decline in classified advertising mostly offset gains in real estate, retail and national ad sales.
Online publishing revenue rose 36% to $25.3 million. At the company's television stations, revenue was up 1% to $89 million, due to a modest increase in political ad revenue.
Difficult comparisons with year-ago results in magazine publishing led to a 14% decline in revenue at that division, to $84.2 million. Newsweek published a special issue in the second quarter of 2005, and did not publish one in the latest three months, causing a reduction in ad pages.
Washington Post's cable systems generated $141.1 million in revenue, a 9% increase over the prior year, led by greater demand for broadband service and a $3 monthly basic cable rate increase that went into effect in February. End of Story
David B. Wilkerson is a reporter for MarketWatch in Chicago.
Revenues rise but Expenses rise even further which results in lower net income. Suspect all that money going out under the table to the demoncRAT congressional politicians and staffers to keep the Post informed.
 |
|||||
| Last: |
Change: - |
Open: |
High: |
Low: |
Volume: 3,200 |
| Percent Change: - |
Yield: |
P/E Ratio: 22.08 |
52 Week Range: |
||
I guess it is considered not extremely bad, or good either. Of course, it doesn't look like the market is very bullish on the stock compared to the remainder of the S&P, either.
Gn 22:17 your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies
Anyone With A Modem Can Report On The World
. . .
[Hillary Clinton] said, "We're all going to have to rethink how we deal with the Internet. As exciting as these new developments are, there are a number of serious issues without any kind of editing function or gatekeeping function."
Newspaper sale$ decline should be blamed on the Journos
. . .
People who work at journalism full time ought to be able to do a better job of it than people for whom it is a hobby. But that's not going to happen as long as we "professional" journalists ignore stories we don't like and try to hide our mistakes. We think of ourselves as "gatekeepers." But there is not much future in being a gatekeeper when the walls are down.
Reinsurance Abuses At End, Buffett Says
. . .
Buffett said declines in circulation result from readers turning to alternative sources , such as free Web sites and television. And he said owning the dominant news Web site in a region is not enough to guarantee sustained profitability for newspaper firms.
As an example, he cited Buffalo, where Berkshire owns the Buffalo News and Buffalo.com, which he described as the most popular news Web site in the city. "We've got the best position, but it isn't remotely like owning the paper 30 years ago."
Buffett said buying newspapers was once an excellent investment because the dominant paper in any city could count on steady advertising revenue and could raise ad rates, often as much as it wanted, every year. With circulation dropping, that is no longer the case, Buffett said.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.