The Washington Post Company on Wednesday reported a sharp decline in fourth quarter profits as its newspaper and magazine divisions offset a stronger performance in its education business.

The publishing company’s earnings fell by 77 per cent last quarter compared with the same period the previous year, dragged down by $75.7m in impairment charges from writedowns of its lead generation business and community newspapers. Its net income declined from $82.9m, or $8.71 a share, the year before to $18.8m, or $2.01 a share, while revenue rose 3 per cent to $1.16bn in the quarter, driven by its businesses less reliant on print advertising.