Washington Post's Second Quarter Profits Fall 50%

The Washington Post reported a 50% drop in second quarter earnings on Friday, brought on by declining revenue from the company's Kaplan Higher Education Unit, and advertising sales.

The Washington Post Company's overall profits for the quarter were $45.6 million, down from $91.9 million last year. The poor results marked the third straight quarter of declines for the newspaper. Analysts have largely lay the blame on declining profits at Kaplan, which were hit by new Department of Education regulations on the for-profit education sector.

Kaplan's operating income fell 64% in the second quarter, and the company expects the decline to continue for the rest of the year. According to Politico, the division had preemptively scaled back enrollment and marketing to address criticism about students’ inability to repay their loans.

The Washington Post also faltered in its digital strategy, where competitors are seeing signs of growth. Advertising revenue for the company's online properties -- which include washingtonpost.com and Slate -- posted a 13% decrease.

Advertising revenue for print dropped 12% in the second quarter, while circulation for print also fell by 4% in the first half of the year.

Comments

[Knowitall]

04:52 PM on 08/09/2011

If the Washington Post would return to its original left of center POV, they might pick up some fallen away subscribers in the DC area. But the paper has been trending further and further right for years--and I cannot figure out why. That's not who lives in this area, and I know many people who have given up on the paper all together.

[edg1]

11:16 PM on 08/08/2011

So, the Wardog Post is suffering declining profits? Maybe their far right-wing editorial stance, their push for Iraq and Afghan wars, and their succor of extreme rightie columnists is catching up to them.

[hmmmmmer]

05:38 PM on 08/08/2011

I was hoping they had lost revenue from the college scam because people had realized it was a scam, it is amazing that people wanting to go to school are that gullible.

[AdHack]

11:17 AM on 08/08/2011

Because the paper's become a neocon mouthpiece with no credibility? Did you read their coverage of the Murdoch scandal?? First, they didn't even have a reporter on it for close to a week. Then the coverage was delegated to the Life section. Then they've been Murdoch apologists. Ben B. would be roll over in his grave.

[Bradley Scott Roon]

11:24 PM on 08/07/2011

"The Washington Post Company's overall profits for the quarter were $45.6 million". I think i could live with that. I mean, they are still making money. Are they oil companies now where if they do not make a 63% profit they are losing money? Yeah, i surely don't get it.

[Silvergoat]

09:05 PM on 08/07/2011

So Obama shot one of his supporters in the chest? WaPo has been one of his staunchest supporters, covering his back, and attacking his enemies. Now they take friendly fire from their liege lord, smeared by the broad brush of "get the bad guys".
Now what would it take to hit the NYT?

[JacksonHts]

12:36 AM on 08/08/2011

What planet do you live on? Liege Lord? Are you Don Quijote? How exactly did Obama cause the Washington Post's quarterly earnings to go down? How exactly is Obama shooting friendly fire at them? Are you one of those weekend paint ballers?

[Knowitall]

04:40 PM on 08/09/2011

Are you serious? If the Washington Post is a supporter, then the President doesn't need any enemies. I can't remember the time I wasn't taking the paper 7 days a week (my parents had the Post delivered also), and at least since the exit of the last Bradlee, the paper is barely distinquishable from the Washington Times or the Examiner--newcomers when compared to the Post, and both extremely conservative.

The columnist are sometimes 3 to 4 to 1 AGAINST the President, and the editorials are decidedly anti-Obama over 90% of the time. The strange thing about it is the paper is WRONG for the population in this area,particularly those of us who've taken the paper for decades.

I have contemplated many times discontinuing the paper, but it's a habit I find hard to break, so I read the editorial page selectively and stick to the news and feature sections, and local stories.

Also, are we reading the same article. Nowhere in the one I read is the President mentioned.
(If you're talking about the Kaplan business, my understanding is the federal government is cracking down on these for profit "colleges" and "universities" that are trapping students into large predatory loans that they cannot afford to pay back. AND many of them never finish the courses.)

Beyond that, what you're saying is totally inaccurate.

[tampajohn]

06:53 PM on 08/07/2011

Newspapers are the buggy whips of the Internet Age

[cliff53]

06:37 PM on 08/07/2011

The advertisers are the most truthful part of a news paper.

[nfatt1]

07:27 PM on 08/07/2011

The advertisers are the only part of most newspapers or should they be called weekly shoppers.

[JHberger]

06:25 PM on 08/07/2011

Well, at least they have remained true to their belief that "profit" is evil.

[seichel2010]

06:01 PM on 08/07/2011

With the exception of some good investigative reporters and a few regular op-ed journalists, I think the paper has been loosing its' identity. Jim Hoagland is on book leave and Steve Pearlstein is leaving to teach which makes the fact we cancelled our subscription over a year ago very prescient.

[Knowitall]

04:44 PM on 08/09/2011

I think the Kaplan thing has less to do with the decline of the paper than falling subscribers. The papers POV has changed considerably now that the Bradlees are gone.

[THE GREAT PURIFIER]

05:34 PM on 08/07/2011

As goes Washington, so goes the Post.

And New York Times

And lapdog media of all kinds.

[InfinteShibumi]

03:50 PM on 08/07/2011

I lament the decline of the Washington Post. My first job was proudly delivering those 5 lb daily and 10 lb Sunday papers door-to-door.

Things change.

[basenji]

03:42 PM on 08/07/2011

With extremists like Rubin and Kraut hanging around WP pages, one hopes they go out of business ASAP.

[Knowitall]

04:45 PM on 08/09/2011

Don't forget George "gobbledygook" Will. The strangest thing was the turn of David Broder before he died.

[InfinteShibumi]

03:12 PM on 08/07/2011

Lally's pay-to-play salon's probably didn't help, either.

[randyeye]

02:19 PM on 08/07/2011

The Post, as well as the also-soon-to-be-defunct The New York Times, is known by the great majority of Americans to be propaganda sheets for the radical left. The majority of Americans are center right. Do the math.

[John Shuck]

02:36 PM on 08/07/2011

The majority of young Americans prefer Jersey Shore. They can't do math. Left is radical, right is centrist, end of thought. Interesting. Propaganda is rampant, but mainly from the right, because it is they who control the media. They have the money, and so the power. More people are being left out of the process. So, I'd say the propaganda is working. And now, back to Jersey Shore......

[randyeye]

03:10 PM on 08/07/2011

At least you're going back to something you have a chance of comprehending.

[InfinteShibumi]

03:07 PM on 08/07/2011

You must not read WaPo's editorial pages. The paper hasn't been "left" for some time now.

[BabaLou7]

03:20 PM on 08/07/2011

when Faux News is your only source...do the math

[randyeye]

03:30 PM on 08/07/2011

If that's your take on WaPo's editorials, you're akin to comatose. Unbelievable