News Corp Reports First Quarter Results for Fiscal 2019

News Corp Reports First Quarter Results for Fiscal 2019

Fiscal 2019 First Quarter Key Financial Highlights

Revenues of $2.52 billion, a 23% increase compared to $2.06 billion in the prior year, reflecting the consolidation of Foxtel and continued strength at the Digital Real Estate Services and Book Publishing segments

Net income was $128 million compared to $87 million in the prior year

Total Segment EBITDA was $358 million compared to $248 million in the prior year

Reported EPS were $0.17 compared to $0.12 in the prior year - Adjusted EPS were $0.17 compared to $0.07 in the prior year

Strong paid digital subscriber growth at The Wall Street Journal, The Times and Sunday Times and The Australian with digital subscribers accounting for more than half of total subscriber base

In October 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of Opcity, a market-leading real estate technology platform, which will enhance realtor.com 's lead generation offerings

New York, NY - November 7, 2018 - News Corporation ( News Corp or the Company ) (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) today reported financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2018.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Robert Thomson said:

In the first quarter, our growth in revenue and earnings reaffirmed our strategy to focus on digital development, and to put particular emphasis on subscriptions as the advertising market continues to evolve.

Reported revenues grew 23% to $2.5 billion for the quarter, while profits rose 44% to $358 million. These numbers are noteworthy as, even excluding the Foxtel consolidation, we achieved tangible increases over the same period last year across many of our segments.

Digital Real Estate Services continued to post strong operational gains, and we took an important strategic step forward with the acquisition of Opcity, which deepens the quality of our engagement with realtors and homebuyers.

Our News and Information Services segment showed progress, with digital paid subscriptions rising at many of our mastheads. Dow Jones is well advanced in its digital transformation, with nearly 65% of The Wall Street Journal subscribers digital-only. That growth is complemented by the Professional Information Business, which allows us to sell higher value-added products across the WSJ subscriber base.

HarperCollins again demonstrated that unique, compelling content can be monetized successfully across different platforms and markets, posting another quarter of robust profit growth.

We are enhancing the new Foxtel, having already launched a dedicated Fox Cricket channel, begun the rollout of 4K, and done advanced work on a sports-only IP offering. The Foxtel leadership team has also been transformed in recent months.

FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

The Company reported fiscal 2019 first quarter total revenues of $2.52 billion, a 23% increase compared to $2.06 billion in the prior year period. The growth reflects the impact from the consolidation of Foxtel's results following the combination of Foxtel and FOX SPORTS Australia (the Transaction ) into a new company ( new Foxtel ) and continued strong performances at the Digital Real Estate Services and Book Publishing segments, partially offset by lower print advertising revenues at the News and Information Services segment. The results also include the $48 million benefit related to News UK's exit of the gaming partnership with Tabcorp for Sun Bets, a $49 million negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations and $17 million of lower revenues as a result of the adoption of the new revenue recognition standard. Adjusted Revenues (which exclude the foreign currency impact and acquisitions and divestitures as defined in Note 1) increased 4%.

Net income for the quarter was $128 million, a 47% increase compared to $87 million in the prior year, reflecting higher Total Segment EBITDA as discussed below, partially offset by higher depreciation and amortization expense and interest expense as a result of the Transaction.

The Company reported first quarter Total Segment EBITDA of $358 million, a 44% increase compared to $248 million in the prior year, also reflecting the Transaction and growth in every segment. Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA (as defined in Note 1) increased 37%, primarily due to the benefit related to the exit of the gaming partnership, as mentioned above, and continued strength in the Book Publishing and Digital Real Estate Services segments.

Net income per share available to News Corporation stockholders was $0.17 as compared to $0.12 in the prior year.

Adjusted EPS (as defined in Note 3) were $0.17 compared to $0.07 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. The company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: news and information services, subscription video services in Australia, book publishing and digital real estate services. Headquartered in New York, News Corp operates primarily in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and its content is distributed and consumed worldwide. More information is available at: http://www.newscorp.com.

Contacts

News Corp Investor Relations

Michael Florin

212-416-3363

mflorin@newscorp.com

News Corp Corporate Communications

Jim Kennedy

212-416-4064

jkennedy@newscorp.com

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LINK:	https://newscorp.com/2018/11/07/news-corp-reports-first-quarter-result...
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