News Corp. Delivers Significant Profit Gains

NEW YORK, May 8: Net
profit at News Corporation for the third quarter soared from $871 million to
$2.7 billion, thanks to a one-time $1.7 billion tax-free gain from its DIRECTV
asset swap with Liberty Media.

The conglomerate posted
quarterly revenues of $8.75 billion, reflecting a 16-percent increase on the
year-ago period. Consolidated operating income gained 16 percent to $1.4
billion.

Commenting on the results,
Rupert Murdoch, the company’s chairman and CEO, noted: “Our 16 percent revenue and
operating income growth this past quarter is a great illustration of how the
diversity of our asset base is translating into sustained financial success. We
delivered growth from advertising based businesses, such as our television
stations and broadcast network, and we delivered growth from subscription-based
businesses, such as our domestic cable channels. We delivered growth from
established businesses, such as our newspapers and we delivered growth from our
developing assets, such as our international cable channels and Fox Interactive
Media. Our ability to generate returns from a multitude of sources puts us in a
great position to maintain our financial momentum even in times of economic
uncertainty.”

The Filmed Entertainment
segment reported third quarter operating income of $261 million as compared
with the record third-quarter results of $410 million reported in the same period
a year ago. And revenues dropped to $1.6 billion from $1.8 billion.

In the Television segment,
revenues gained 14.7 percent to $1.8 billion, while operating income was up 53
percent to $419 million. The growth was led by higher contributions from the FOX
Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations and STAR and improved results at
MyNetworkTV.

Cable Network Programming
reported third quarter operating income of $330 million, a 17-percent rise,
with revenues up 27.2 percent to $1.2 billion. Gains were made at Fox News
Channel, the regional sports networks, FX and Fox International Channels,
partially offset by launch costs associated with the Fox Business Network and
the Big Ten Network.

SKY Italia reported third
quarter operating income of $97 million, an improvement of 7 percent, on
improved revenues of $993 million. More than 342,000 net subs were added over
the past 12 months, leaving the platform with 4.5 million customers at the end
of the quarter.

—By Mansha Daswani