The Washington Post Company | The Washington Post
The Washington Post’s newspaper division posted an operating loss of $49.3 million in the first six months of 2013, the company says in its second-quarter earnings report. In the first six months of 2012, the newspaper division lost $33.2 million.
Those declines were fed by revenue declines but were “largely due to an accounting provision for pensions and early retirement expenses,” Steven Mufson writes. That provision also contributed to a $34.5 million operating loss the newspaper division reported in its first quarter results.
Print advertising revenue was down 4 percent over the second quarter of 2012, but revenue from online publishing was up 15 percent. Revenue from online display advertising was up 25 percent in the second quarter, 21 percent for the first six months of the year.
The Washington Post began rolling out its paywall June 12.
Revenue at the Post Co.’s cable and broadcast television divisions was up, and the company’s educational division saw a revenue decrease of 1 percent over the second quarter of 2012 but much higher profits “thanks to cost reductions,” Mufson writes.
The Post Co. introduced paywalls at some of its community papers in June as well, and it closed two Maryland papers in May.
The Post company has made some investments this quarter: In June the Post Co. announced it would acquire Forney Corp., a “global supplier of products and systems that control and monitor combustion processes in electric utilities and industrial applications.” That acquisition was completed Thursday, the report says. And in July it announced it had made an investment in FaithStreet.com, an organization with which, it announced Post journalist Sally Quinn would “work closely.”
Previously: Online ad revenue up at The Washington Post, print ad revenue & circulation down
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