News Corp Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results for Fiscal 2018

News Corp Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results for Fiscal 2018

Fiscal 2018 Fourth Quarter Key Financial Highlights

Revenues of $2.69 billion, a 29% increase compared to $2.08 billion in the prior year, reflecting the consolidation of Foxtel and robust performance across the Company

Net loss of ($355) million, which includes the non-cash impact resulting from the combination of Foxtel and FOX SPORTS Australia of ($337) million, compared to a net loss of ($424) million in the prior year

Total Segment EBITDA was $312 million including the results of Foxtel, compared to $215 million in the prior year

Reported EPS were ($0.64) compared to ($0.74) in the prior year - Adjusted EPS were $0.08 compared to $0.11 in the prior year

Digital revenues represented 30% of News and Information Services segment revenues, compared to 26% in the prior year, reflecting strong paid digital subscriber growth at mastheads

Book Publishing segment posted a record quarter in revenues

Digital Real Estate Services segment revenues grew 19%, reflecting continued yield improvements at both REA Group and realtor.com

New York, NY - August 9, 2018 - News Corporation ( News Corp or the Company ) (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) today reported financial results for the three months and fiscal year ended June 30, 2018.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Robert Thomson said:

Fiscal 2018 was a year of operational and transformational success at News Corp, with robust performance across our businesses, and positive and profound changes in the character of our revenue flows, which were more global, digital and subscription-based. We generated strong revenue and Segment EBITDA growth in the Digital Real Estate Services and Book Publishing segments, which, together with the consolidation of Foxtel, drove over $1 billion in profitability for the year.

Digital Real Estate Services continues to flourish and we expanded into meaningful adjacencies, broadening our audience and our revenue sources. HarperCollins' success underscores the importance of intelligent editors and great writers in creating premium content. Algorithms are, as yet, unable to write empathetic, compelling books. We also saw meaningful operational improvements at the News and Information Services segment led by higher digital paid subscribers and disciplined cost initiatives, notably in Australia. Mastheads like The Times, The Sunday Times and The Wall Street Journal reached new heights in their digital transformation, with digital paid subscribers now exceeding print subscribers. The new Foxtel is focused on product innovation and leveraging its valuable content.

News Corp is now a more substantial company after the Foxtel transaction, with a much higher percentage of recurring, subscription-based revenues, which should help offset a volatile advertising environment.

We are marking five years since our Separation and are confident News Corp has a lustrous future, built on a strong digital and global foundation.

Fourth Quarter Results

The Company reported fiscal 2018 fourth quarter total revenues of $2.69 billion, a 29% increase compared to $2.08 billion in the prior year period, reflecting the inclusion of Foxtel's results, following the Transaction, as described below, continued strong growth in the Book Publishing and Digital Real Estate Services segments and a $29 million positive impact from foreign currency fluctuations. The growth was partially offset by lower print advertising revenues at the News and Information Services segment. Adjusted Revenues (which exclude the foreign currency impact, acquisitions and divestitures as defined in Note 1) increased 5%.

In April 2018, News Corp and Telstra combined their respective 50% interests in Foxtel and News Corp's 100% interest in FOX SPORTS Australia into a new company (the Transaction ), which we refer to as new Foxtel. Following completion of the Transaction, News Corp owns a 65% interest in new Foxtel with Telstra owning the remaining 35%. Consequently, the Company began consolidating Foxtel in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. See Note 4 for pro forma financial information reflecting the Transaction.

Net loss for the quarter was ($355) million as compared to ($424) million in the prior year. The result is mainly due to the loss of $337 million related to the Transaction, primarily resulting from the write-off of the FOX SPORTS Australia channel distribution agreement (the FSA channel distribution agreement ) intangible asset, which is reflected in Other, net. The results were also impacted by higher tax expense, driven primarily by certain one-time items related to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Tax Act ), tax settlements and the tax effects of the Transaction. The prior year quarter's results included non-cash impairment charges of $464 million, primarily related to the write-down of fixed assets.

Total Segment EBITDA for the quarter was $312 million, a 45% increase compared to $215 million in the prior year, reflecting the inclusion of Foxtel's results and continued strength in the Book Publishing and Digital Real Estate Services segments. Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA (as defined in Note 1) increased 13%.

Loss per share available to News Corporation stockholders was ($0.64) as compared to ($0.74) in the prior year.

Adjusted EPS (as defined in Note 3) were $0.08 compared to $0.11 in the prior year.

Full Year Results

The Company reported fiscal 2018 full year total revenues of $9.02 billion, an 11% increase compared to $8.14 billion in the prior year period, reflecting the inclusion of Foxtel's results, strong growth in the Digital Real Estate Services and Book Publishing segments and a $172 million positive impact from foreign currency fluctuations. The growth was partially offset by lower print advertising and News America Marke

LINK:	https://newscorp.com/2018/08/09/news-corp-reports-fourth-quarter-and-f...
	See more stories from newscorp

Most recent headlines