Always Remember What Pays the Bills at the Post

WaPo:

In recent years, The Post Co. has received most of its revenue and earnings from its Kaplan Inc. education division and its Cable One cable division, and the same was true in the first quarter of this year, as the two units combined to generate 74 percent of company revenue. The newspaper division is now The Post's third-biggest revenue-generator, providing 15 percent of company revenue.

However, at Kaplan, a 9 percent increase in revenue and a 27 percent increase in enrollments in its higher education business in the first quarter were offset by the expense of a $21 million advertising campaign and an $16.9 million restructuring charges, the bulk of which came from closing Score, Kaplan's unsuccessful after-school, online-learning business. By the end of the second quarter of this year, The Post Co. anticipates converting 14 Score centers into Kaplan test-prep centers and closing the remaining 64. The computer centers have been undercut by the rise of personal computers in childrens's homes.

All of which translated to Kaplan reporting $11.1 million in first-quarter operating income, a 76 percent drop compared to the first quarter of 2008.