News Corp. Posts Q2 Loss - Update

(RTTNews) - News Corp. (NWS, NWSA), the company owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, Thursday posted a loss for the second quarter compared to a profit last year, hurt largely by impairment charges. Earnings and revenues for the quarter came in line with Wall Street estimates.

The New York-based media company reported a second-quarter loss of $289 million or $0.50 per share, compared to a profit of $63 million or $0.11 per share last year.

The results for the quarter were weighed down by non-cash charges related to a change in the carrying value of Foxtel and an impairment of the print-related fixed assets at Australian newspaper business.

Adjusted earnings were $110 million or $0.19 per share, down from $114 million or $0.20 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.19 per share.

Revenues for the quarter dropped 2 percent to $2.12 billion from $2.16 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.12 billion.

Revenue at key news and information services segment, which includes Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, declined 7 percent from a year ago to $1.30 billion. Among smaller segments, book publishing rose 4 percent; digital real estate jumped 16 percent, and cable network programming declined 2 percent.

Chief Executive Robert Thomson said, "In the second quarter, we saw the efficacy of our strategic reinvestment and digital diversification. Both were evident in our significantly increased operating profitability in the quarter, despite continued headwinds in print advertising. Results were driven by strong performance at our Digital Real Estate Services segment and meaningful revenues at HarperCollins, along with appropriate and ongoing management of the cost base at our news mastheads."

Digital revenues increased to 27 percent of News and Information Services segment revenues, compared to 22 percent last year. The company said that the Wall Street Journal's average daily digital subscribers rose to 1.08 million, up from 828,000 year over year. The company said for the first time, more than 50 percent of its subscribers are digital.

News Corp separated itself in 2013 after Rupert Murdoch spun off its more profitable entertainment and TV assets into Twenty-First Century Fox (FOX, FOXA).

NWSA closed Thursday's trading at $12.39, up $0.23 or 1.89%, on the Nasdaq.