News Corp. posts 27% rise in fourth-quarter net income
The performance of the media conglomerate beats Wall Street projections. Its results were boosted by its sale of its stake in Gemstar-TV Guide International and higher income from its film, cable networks and newspaper groups.
News Corp. today reported a 27% jump in fourth-quarter net income, fueled by proceeds from the sale of its stake in Gemstar-TV Guide International, as well as higher operating income from its film, cable networks and newspaper groups.
The media conglomerate reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.1 billion, or 43 cents a share, for the quarter ending June 30, compared to $890 million or 28 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 17% to nearly $8.6 billion from $7.4 billion.
News Corp.'s performance exceeded Wall Street's projections. Thomson Financial said analysts that it polled expected profit of 34 cents per share on revenue of $8.51 billion.
"Although we clearly face more challenging macro-economic conditions in fiscal '09, we're well positioned to deliver continued, if somewhat less robust, growth," said News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, in a prepared statement.
The film group reported operating income of $220 million, more than double the year-ago quarter, propelled by DVD sales of such popular films as "Alvin and the Chipmunks," "Juno" and "27 Dresses."
Television suffered from lower prime-time advertising revenue. The group's fourth-quarter operating income of $279 million, a drop of $106 million from a year earlier. The 28% decline is due to lower contributions from the Fox network, reflecting a drop in prime-time advertising because of lower ratings, as well as decreased contributions from Fox affiliated stations.
The Cable Network Programming group reported a 10% increase in operating income, to $313 million from $284 million, fueled by double-digit gains by the Fox News Channel, as well as contributions from the Regional Sports Networks and the Fox International Channels.
Newspapers and information services reported operating income of $262 million, up $59 million from the same time a year earlier, reflecting advertising growth in Australia as well as the inclusion of results from Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones & Co., which News Corp. acquired in December 2007.
Fox Interactive Media, the group that includes online social network MySpace, reported strong search and advertising revenue growth, which was more than offset by increased development and technical costs, as well as the costs of adding new features.
For the full fiscal year, News Corp. reported net income of $5.4 billion or $1.81 a share, an increase of $2 billion from the $3.4 billlion, or $1.08 a share, reported in fiscal 2007. Revenue rose 15% to nearly $33 billion, from $28.5 billion.
dawn.chmielewski@latimes.com
