News Corp. 1Q income posts surprising growth
By RYAN NAKASHIMA
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Media conglomerate News Corp. said Wednesday
its net income for the latest quarter grew despite analysts'
expectations of a decline, thanks to strength at its cable networks
and the box-office success of ``Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.''
The company is facing multiple challenges, including an
advertising downturn and the shift of readers to the Internet.
Newspaper and TV station earnings fell but they were more than
offset by cost-cutting and gains elsewhere.
Net income for the company's fiscal first quarter, which ended
Sept. 30, increased 11 percent to $571 million, or 22 cents per
share, compared with $515 million, or 20 cents per share, in the
year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were
expecting a drop to 18 cents per share.
NASDAQ:NWSA Updated: 16:00 ET 11.98 -0.46 |
Revenue fell 4 percent to $7.2 billion, in line with estimates.
Chief Executive and lead shareholder Rupert Murdoch called the
results ``exceptionally strong'' and said the company's businesses
were improving.
``The economies in which we do business are clearly in better
shape than they were a year ago,'' he said in a statement.
Citing better movie performance and a better market for local TV
ads, News Corp. also raised its annual forecast for fiscal 2010
operating profits to growth in the ``high single- to low
double-digit'' percentages from its 2009 level of $3.44 billion.
The fiscal year ends in June.
Earlier, News Corp. predicted only ``high single'' digit
percentage gains.
Quarterly profit in the studio, 20th Century Fox, surged 56
percent to $391 million thanks to the theatrical success of ``Ice
Age'' and ``X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' on home video.
Cable networks, including Fox News Channel, saw operating income
grow 41 percent to $495 million, but newspaper earnings shrank more
than 80 percent as lower ad revenue hurt The Wall Street Journal
despite increases in circulation revenue from higher prices.
Shares in the New York-based company were flat at $11.56 in
after-hours trading following the earnings release Wednesday, after
closing up 12 cents.
11/04/09 18:46
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