Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) posted a particularly strong set of numbers in Q3, despite a continued slowdown in real estate advertising and struggling circulation. Overall, the publisher pf the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and various regional papers, reported Q3 net income of $19.9 million compared to $10.9 million a year ago, a rise of nearly 83 percent. Revenues for the period were up moderately, coming in at $219 million versus Q306’s $216 million, a 1.4 percent gain. And while lower real estate and automotives ads led to a 5.8 percent decline of $74 million from last year’s $79 million, online ads were up nearly 60 percent to $16.6 million in Q3, from $10 million last year. Other highlights from the quarter included:

—For the year, online revenue was up 57.5 percent to $56.3 million. Lee claims that its combined newspaper websites reach more than 11.5 million unique visitors monthly. Last year at this time, Lee said its sites reached 2 million users.

—While online classifieds were strong, it was still not enough to offset reductions in print classified; looking at print and online combined, the segment was flat in Q3. 

—Lee’s association with Yahoo’s (NSDQ: YHOO) HotJobs helped push Q3 employment ad revenues up 8.8 percent; for the year, the segment was up 6.1 percent.

— On the negative side, operating cash flow dropped 10.9 percent to $59.9 million and operating income fell 15 percent to $40.3 million.

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