Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp announced a six percent gain in quarterly profit on May 09, sayings its coffers had been swelled by the "Night at the Museum" movie and DVD sales of "Borat" and "The Devil Wears Prada."
The global media firm said its net profit increased to 871 million dollars during its fiscal third quarter, up from 820 million in the same period a year ago.
"We continue to be pleased with the broad-based momentum we are achieving across our various operating segments," Murdoch, one of the world's most powerful media tycoons, said in a statement.
The success of "Night at the Museum" starring Ben Stiller helped lift News Corp's earnings per share to 27 cents during the quarter from 26 cents a year earlier.
The media behemoth's earnings were generally in line with most analysts' forecasts. Murdoch meanwhile is vying to expand his empire and News Corp unveiled a five-billion-dollar take-over bid for Dow Jones & Co on May 1.
If successful, the deal would enable Murdoch to take control of the prestigious US business newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, among other Dow Jones assets.
However, Dow Jones's board of directors has said it will take no action on the bid.
"Night at the Museum," which has raked in over 570 million dollars in world-wide box office ticket sales to date, bumped up profits as did other DVD sales, including earnings from "Little Miss Sunshine," "Ice Age" and "The Meltdown and Eragon."
Overall revenue swelled to a better-than-forecast 7.5 billion dollars during the quarter from 6.2 billion previously. Increased cable television revenues in the United States also helped push up earnings, News Corp said, but the firm's television revenues were dented by losses at MyNetworkTV.
News Corp's footprint spans the globe and counts newspaper titles, television stations and cable television operations in Australia, Britain and the United States among other countries.
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