By Kevin McCauley
Washington Post Co. today reported a 50 percent slide in second quarter net income to $45.5M as its Kaplan education unit failed to make the profit grade. Second period revenues declined 10 percent to $1B.
Kaplan generated $628M of revenues for the period. That was down 15 percent from last year’s performance. Operating income tumbled 82 percent to $20.4M as enrollment at Kaplan University and Kaplan higher education campuses tumbled 30 percent to 78,534 students.
WPC also was hurt on the financial front with the introduction of the Kaplan Commitment program in which students get free trial periods to help determine if the program is right for them. That cut revenues $27M in tuition revenue for the first-half.
WPC expects Kaplan’s operating income will decline for the remainder of the year. A restructuring is in the works, which could result in a “material” cost for the year.
The Washington Post-led newspaper group recorded revenues of $162.8M, down six percent from `10. Operating loss dropped to $2.9M from $14.3M.
During the first-half, WP registered a daily circulation of 531,400 and Sunday circulation of 745,300. Those numbers are down 4.5 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.
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