Media giant News Corp today posted a 27% rise in first quarter net profit today, prompting chief Rupert Murdoch to declare that the US-bound company is on the cusp of a new era of prosperity.
News Corp which ceased trading on Australia's benchmark index yesterday and is due to list in New York on November 12, reported net profit of $536m for the three months to September, up from $422m in the same period last year. Revenues rose by 12% to $5.2 billion, in line with market expectations.
Murdoch, who has nurtured News Corp from a single Adelaide newspaper into the world's fifth largest media group over the past 52 years, said the imminent US move and strong performances across the company meant the outlook was bright.
'We are on the cusp of a new and more prosperous era for News Corp, an era in which the profit growth we are poised to deliver and the potential of our unmatched asset base translate into stronger returns for our shareholders,' Murdoch said.
Murdoch said the first-quarter result underpins his projection for full-year operating earnings growth in the 'mid-to-high teens'.
'We remain very optimistic that we will deliver another record year of earnings,' he said. 'We experienced double digit growth across nearly all our key operating segments, we are not relying on just one or two of our businesses to drive our growth, but eight or nine. None of these businesses show signs of slowing up,' he added.
Operating profit at the cable TV unit jumped 47% to $196m. The filmed entertainment unit reported a 13% fall in operating profit of $285m, partly because of higher marketing costs, News Corp said.
The company's broadcast television business had a 30% increase in operating profit of $233m, while its newspapers reported operating income of $120m, up 18%. Losses in the satellite-TV unit increased 3.4% to $121m due to subscriber acquisition costs at Sky Italia.
Murdoch said News Corp.'s pay-TV assets were being established as growth engines for the company, particularly at Sky Italia, BSkyB and DirecTV.
