News Corp Reports Third Quarter Results for Fiscal 2021

News Corp Reports Third Quarter Results for Fiscal 2021

Fiscal 2021 Third Quarter Key Financial Highlights

Revenues were $2.34 billion, a 3% increase compared to $2.27 billion in the prior year, driven by the continued strong momentum across our key growth pillars

Net income of $96 million compared to a net loss of $(1) billion in the prior year, which included non-cash impairment charges of $1.1 billion

Total Segment EBITDA was $298 million compared to $242 million in the prior year

Reported EPS were $0.13 compared to $(1.24) in the prior year - Adjusted EPS were $0.09 compared to $0.03 in the prior year

Move, operator of realtor.com , reported 37% revenue growth, with traffic reaching a record 108 million unique users in March, and was again a key driver of Segment EBITDA growth at the Digital Real Estate Services segment

Dow Jones Segment EBITDA increased 61%, with another strong increase in digital advertising revenues, record digital subscriptions, and continued robust growth at Risk & Compliance

Book Publishing Segment EBITDA increased 45%, benefiting from the success of numerous backlist titles, including the Bridgerton series

Reached multi-year partnership agreements with Google and Facebook for news content

Recently completed the acquisition of Investor's Business Daily and announced the planned acquisitions of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Books and Media segment and Mortgage Choice

New York, NY - May 6, 2021 - News Corporation ( News Corp or the Company ) (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Robert Thomson said:

The financial year is on a trajectory to be the most profitable since our reincarnation in 2013. This highlights the transformed character of the Company, with improved revenue performance and a 23 percent increase in profitability in the third quarter.

The results vindicate the strategy of simplifying the asset mix, vigorously pursuing digitization, slimming the cost base, and investing in three growth areas - Digital Real Estate Services, Dow Jones and Book Publishing - which collectively generated 55 percent Segment EBITDA growth in the third quarter.

Move, operator of realtor.com , flourished, with 37 percent revenue growth, and more than 100 million unique users in March, a 60 percent increase on a year earlier. At Dow Jones, digital revenues reached 74 percent of the total, with digital advertising growing by a robust 30 percent and The Wall Street Journal subscriptions setting record after record. And at Book Publishing, revenues rose 19 percent, thanks to a valuable backlist and faster digital growth.

Foxtel's resurgence during the pandemic reflected the enduring value of its broadcast offering, the rapid growth of streaming services, and a relentless focus on costs, all of which contributed to a 34 percent surge in Segment EBITDA.

We have reached historic deals with Google and Facebook, and continue our international campaign to reset the terms of trade for premium journalism. The cooperation in recent weeks with the Google team has certainly been productive and we look forward to further engagement with Facebook. These landmark agreements have meaningfully and materially changed the media landscape.

Finally, we successfully completed our inaugural bond offering, which was met with extremely high demand, and was a resounding vote of confidence in the Company's strategy and its prospects.

Third Quarter Results

The Company reported fiscal 2021 third quarter total revenues of $2.34 billion, 3% higher compared to $2.27 billion in the prior year period. The increase was driven by the $176 million, or 8%, positive impact from foreign currency fluctuations and continued growth in the Digital Real Estate Services, Book Publishing and Dow Jones segments. The growth was partially offset by lower revenues at the News Media segment, primarily driven by a $199 million, or 9%, negative impact from the divestiture of News America Marketing, weakness in the print advertising market and a $28 million, or 1%, negative impact from the closure or transition to digital of certain regional and community newspapers in Australia. Adjusted Revenues (which exclude the foreign currency impact, acquisitions and divestitures as defined in Note 2) increased 4%.

Net income for the quarter was $96 million compared to a net loss of $(1) billion in the prior year, reflecting the absence of $1.1 billion of non-cash impairment charges in the prior year, higher Total Segment EBITDA, as discussed below, and higher Other net, partially offset by higher tax expense.

The Company reported third quarter Total Segment EBITDA of $298 million, a 23% increase compared to $242 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily due to higher revenues, as discussed above, and a $32 million, or 13%, positive impact from foreign currency fluctuations. The growth was partially offset by higher costs in the Other segment due to higher employee costs, primarily related to stock price performance, as well as investment spending related to the global shared services initiative. The results also reflect a $24 million negative impact from the divestiture of News America Marketing in the prior year. Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA (as defined in Note 2) increased 24%.

Net income (loss) per share attributable to News Corporation stockholders was $0.13 as compared to $(1.24) in the prior year.

Adjusted EPS (as defined in Note 3) were $0.09 compared to $0.03 in the prior year.

Please click here for the full Earnings Release information.

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About News Corp

News Corp (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and se

LINK:	https://newscorp.com/2021/05/06/news-corp-reports-third-quarter-result...
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