BANGALORE (Reuters) - Washington Post Co reported a lower quarterly profit on Wednesday because of falling advertising revenue at its flagship newspaper and lower enrollment at its for-profit colleges. The Post's fourth-quarter net income fell to $79 million, or $9.42 a share, from $81.7 million, or $8.71 a share, a year ago. As a result of the company's share repurchases, there were fewer shares outstanding in 2010.
Revenue grew slightly to $1.19 billion as its television broadcasting division brought in more advertising. Revenue at that unit rose 28 percent to $102.9 million.
One analyst who follows the company was expecting a profit of $8.72 a share on revenue of $1.19 billion. Enrollment at the Post's Kaplan education unit, which accounts for about two-thirds of the company's revenue, fell 8 percent to 96,701 students as of December 31. New enrollment during the quarter fell 47 percent.
Enrollments at for-profit colleges, such as those run by Kaplan, have fallen in recent quarters as they tighten admission standards and deal with scrutiny from the Obama administration. Negative publicity is hurting student intake at these colleges, criticized for overcharging students, burdening them with debt and leaving them without good prospects of finding work. The Obama administration wants to institute a "gainful employment rule," which would require the schools to graduate a higher percentage of students than many of them do, or risk the substantial amount of federal aid that they receive.
The S&P 1500 Education Services sub-index almost halved in the April-December period last year as investors feared the new rules would dent growth at these colleges.
PRINT TAKES A HIT, AGAIN
Newspaper publishing revenue fell 3 percent to $188.4 million. Advertising revenue at The Washington Post fell 12 percent. The Post, like other newspaper publishers, has been dealing with a revenue decline that has raised existential questions about the future of the U.S. newspaper business. Last year, the Post sold the loss-making weekly magazine Newsweek to audio equipment magnate Sidney Harman for a token price of $1. Other U.S. newspaper publishers, including the New York Times Co and USA Today publisher Gannett, have seen advertising sales recovering, but not in any consistent way from month to month.
Separately, the Washington Post newspaper said that former National Journal deputy editor Patrick Pexton will become the newspaper's new ombudsman.
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi and Robert MacMillan in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)
