News Corp on Thursday reported quarterly profit rose 69 percent on robust sales of DVDs and increased advertising at its cable and broadcast television networks on the strength of the Fox News Channel and its hit show "American Idol."
The global media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch also raised its profit forecast for the year and said it expects to launch a new Fox channel by the end of this year.
News Corp posted a net profit for the fiscal third quarter ended March 31 of $465 million, or 32 cents per American depository receipt, compared to $275 million, or 21 cents per ADR, in the year earlier quarter.
The across-the-board gains of News Corp - publisher of the New York Post and Britain's The Sun newspapers and owner of the 20th Century Fox movie studio - cap an earnings season that delivered upside surprises across nearly all major media groups, led by Viacom Inc and Time Warner Inc.
"They hit on all cylinders," said Andrew Baker, an analyst at Cathay Financial, adding that the growth was broad-based. "They also brought down losses at Sky Italia faster than estimated."
Losses at Sky Italia, the Italian satellite television operator that News Corp created with the purchase last year of pay-TV business Telepiu, fell to $25 million, from $106 million in the fiscal second quarter.
Revenue for the quarter rose 19 percent to $5.2 billion, from $4.4 billion.
Profit excluding items was 31 cents, beating Wall Street consensus estimates of 27 cents a share, according to Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group, Plc.
Sales of DVD movies "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "Planet of the Apes" and box office ticket sales of films like "Cheaper By The Dozen" helped push film operating profit up 6 percent to $214 million, from $201 million a year ago.
Operating income at the cable networks surged 51 percent to $143 million on higher advertising, driven by the Fox News Channel.
News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch told analysts he expected the company to launch a new Fox channel by the end of this year, with additional channels to be launched over the next few years.
"We are looking at a number of genres, ones in which we have particular expertise of which would be natural extensions of our Fox brand," Murdoch told analysts on a conference call. He declined to be more specific.
Analysts have speculated that News Corp is likely to launch a business news cable network, following on the heels of its success with the Fox News Channel.