NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) Wednesday reported a surge in second-quarter profit, on growth at Cable Network Programming business, as well as gains from acquiring additional stakes in Fox Sports Australia and Fox Star Sports Asia.
Meanwhile, the company's other key businesses of Publishing and Filmed Entertainment saw marginal growth, and its Direct Satellite Television business slackened. News Corp.'s earnings topped Wall Street estimates by two cents, and revenues exceeded expectations.
But investors were not impressed and the company's stock is down about three percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq.
News Corp., which is spinning off its publishing and entertainment divisions, said revenues for the quarter rose 5 percent to $9.43 billion from $8.98 billion last year. On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected revenues of $9.27 billion.
Total operating income for the quarter was higher at $1.58 billion, compared with $1.50 billion a year ago, reflecting improvements at Cable Network Programming and Television segments.
Results included $56 million of costs related to the ongoing probe following the closure of The News of the World tabloid and $23 million of costs related to the proposed spin-off.
Operating income at Cable Network Programming segment increased 7 percent from last year to $945 million, on contributions from Regional Sports Networks, FX Network and Fox News Channel, and National Geographic channel. Advertising revenue at the domestic cable channels grew 8 percent, while international advertising revenue jumped 29 percent.
Filmed entertainment operating income slid by $10 million to $383 million, while Television segment operating income rose 19 percent to $224 million.
Its Direct broadcast television segment, SKY Italia, reported operating loss of $20 million, hurt by increased programming costs. Publishing reported operating income of $234 million, a $16 million improvement from the a year ago.
Overall, the New York-based company reported second-quarter net income of $2.38 billion or $1.01 per share, compared with $1.06 billion or $0.42 per share last year.
Results for the quarter included $1.40 billion of income, mainly from gains on the acquisitions of additional ownership stakes in FOX SPORTS Australia and Fox Star Sports Asia, as well as a $131 million gain from the company's participation in British Sky Broadcasting's share repurchase program. Results also included $65 million of restructuring and impairment charges.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.037 billion or $0.44 per share, compared with $981 million or $0.39 per share last year.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.42 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The company declared a dividend of $0.085 per Class A and Class B share, payable on April 17 for shareholders of record on March 13.
News Corp. in June revealed plans to pursue the separation of its publishing and entertainment businesses into two publicly-traded companies. The move came after News Corp.'s British newspaper unit got involved in a phone hacking scandal that led to shuttering of its 168-year old 'News of the World' tabloid in July 2011 and the arrest of Rebekah Brooks, the then CEO of its British newspaper subsidiary News International.
NWSA closed Tuesday at $28.22, down 0.46%, on a volume of 34 million shares on the Nasdaq. In after hours, the stock dropped 1.13%.
NWS closed at $28.69, up 0.24%, on a volume of 3.8 million shares.
Copyright(c) 2013 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2013 AFX News
