NWSA News Corporation Reports Second Quarter Net Income of $1.06 Billion
PROVIDED BY Business Wire - 4:03 PM 02/08/2012
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- News Corporation (NWSA) today reported second quarter revenue of $8.98 billion, a 2% increase over the $8.76 billion of revenue reported a year ago. The quarterly revenue increase was led by growth at the Company’s Cable Network Programming, Television and Filmed Entertainment segments, partially offset by declines at the Company’s Publishing and Other segments.
The Company reported second quarter total segment operating income(1) of $1.50 billion, a 16% increase over the $1.29 billion of total segment operating income reported a year ago. This improvement was led by a more than doubling of contributions at the Company’s Filmed Entertainment segment, as well as strong double-digit increases at the Cable Network Programming and Television segments. These increases more than offset declines at the Publishing and Other segments. The decline at the Other segment primarily resulted from the inclusion of an $87 million charge ($0.03 per share) related to the costs of the ongoing investigations initiated upon the closure of The News of the World.
The Company reported second quarter net income of $1.06 billion ($0.42 per share), as compared to net income of $642 million ($0.24 per share) reported a year ago. This year’s second quarter results include $125 million of pre-tax income in Other, net, principally reflecting a non-cash gain from the consolidation of Fox Pan American Sports following the acquisition of the remaining outstanding ownership stake not already owned by the Company. The second quarter results also include a $44 million pre-tax gain from British Sky Broadcasting’s (“BSkyB’s”) share repurchase program, included in equity earnings of affiliates, which was essentially offset by a $36 million pre-tax restructuring charge primarily related to the U.K. and Australian newspapers. Excluding the net income effects of these items, the charge related to the investigations in the U.K. and comparable items in both years, second quarter adjusted earnings per share(2) this year are $0.39 compared with the adjusted year-ago result of $0.29.
Commenting on the results, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch said:
“The significant growth we reported in the quarter in the Cable Network Programming, Television and Filmed Entertainment segments clearly validates our strategy to develop and distribute superior wide-ranging content. I am particularly pleased with the success of our business strategies in spite of the uncertain economic conditions that we continue to face. News Corporation’s commitment to delivering value to our stockholders is unwavering and we will continue to focus on generating superior shareholder returns, as evidenced by our strong year to date earnings and the successful completion of over half of our previously announced share repurchase program.”
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