Washington Post reports drop in earnings The Post Co. reported net income of $44.7 million for the second quarter, or $6.02 a share, down from $51.8 million or $6.84 a share. Revenues for the second quarter rose to $1.02 billion, up 4 percent from $989.1 million a year earlier. The company noted, however, that net income from continuing operations rose 24 percent and that the second quarter of 2012 included $15.8 million of net income from discontinued operations. The discontinued operations include The Herald of Everett, Wash., Avenue100 Media Solutions, and three Kaplan education units, Kidum, EduNeering and Kaplan Learning Technologies. The company's biggest division, Kaplan education, showed sharply higher profits thanks to cost reductions. Operating income in the second quarter jumped to $23.7 million from $3.7 million the year before. Revenue for the division dropped 1 percent to $548.2 million. But Kaplan higher education continued to shrink as it instituted a previously announced restructuring plan to close nine campuses. Total students enrolled fell 8 percent from the second quarter of 2012 and 7 percent from the end of the first quarter of 2013. Excluding campuses that are closing, enrollment was still down 4 percent from the year before. Revenues and profits both rose, however, at the education division's Kaplan test preparation unit, driven by strength in pre-college, nursing and bar review courses, offset by declines in graduate programs. Cable television reported higher second quarter profits and revenues as reductions in labor costs and bad debt expenses offset higher programming and depreciation costs. The division operating income rose 16 percent to $44.7 million in the second quarter, as revenues rose 5 percent to $204.6 million from the second quarter of 2012. Operating income in the second quarter also rose 9 percent at The Post's regional television stations to $47.7 million, as revenues rose 4 percent to $99.3 million. Results rose in part because the NBA finals bolstered ad revenue at the company's Miami and San Antonio ABC affiliates. The company's newspaper results were mixed. It reported an operating loss of $14.8 million for the second quarter, slightly higher than the $12.6 million operating loss a year earlier. Revenues edged down 1 percent to $138.4 million. But the results included a $16.8 million charge for pension contributions, a non-cash item since the pension plan is fully funded. The print operations showed continued deterioration. Print advertising declined again, but at a somewhat slower 4 percent pace to $54.5 million. Circulation was not broken out for the second quarter, but the average circulation for the first six months of 2013 fell 7.1 percent to 447,700 on weekdays and 7.6 percent to 646,700 on Sundays compared to the first six months of 2012. However online revenues jumped 15 percent over the second quarter of 2012 to $29.8 million. Online display advertising rose 25 percent, but online classified ads fell 7 percent compared to the second quarter a year earlier. The second quarter 2013 results for the newspaper division also included a $5.7 million increase in early retirement and severance expenses. Newsprint costs tumbled 17 percent due primarily to a decline in newsprint consumption, the company said.