KEY POINTS:
LOS ANGELES - If Borat was sitting alongside Rupert Murdoch at yesterday's News Corp teleconference call with reporters and analysts, he would have raised two thumbs and said, "It's nice!"
Murdoch didn't use the crazy Kazakh's catchphrase, but he was just as upbeat in announcing News Corp's US$1.6 billion ($2.4 billion) first-half net profit. The company earned US$642 million in the corresponding period last year.
Operating income for the second quarter was US$1.1 billion, up 24 per cent. News Corp's result was powered by the strong performance of its Hollywood movie studio, 20th Century Fox, which cashed in at the international box office in the second quarter thanks to Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
The mockumentary, starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as the cheeky Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev, cost US$18 million to make and has so far earned US$248m worldwide.
News Corp was also helped by Meryl Streep's The Devil Wears Prada, a film that cost US$35 million but has collected US$322 million at the box office.
Add the DVD and video releases of animated hit Ice Age: The Meltdown, sci-fi sequel X-Men: The Last Stand and Oscar-nominated black comedy Little Miss Sunshine, and News Corp's filmed entertainment division reaped a record US$470 million in operating income in the second quarter, up from US$299 million in the previous corresponding quarter.
"The company is solidly on track for the remainder of this year," Murdoch said.
It was not all rosy for Murdoch and his media empire.
News Corp's television business earned US$112 million in operating income in the second quarter, a significant drop from US$183 million.
News Corp president Peter Chernin described the TV result as "unsatisfactory" and blamed its STAR TV business in Asia and its MyNetworkTV stations in the US.
Murdoch talked up News Corp's long-awaited asset swap deal with John Malone's Liberty Media.
In exchange for News Corp's 38.4 per cent stake in DirecTV, Malone will hand over his 17 per cent stake in News Corp, protecting the Murdoch-run company from takeover.
Murdoch said the transaction would give News Corp a "tax-free gain of about US$4.8 billion".
Murdoch was also bullish about News Corp's Fox Interactive internet business, which includes the www.myspace.com social networking site, although he rejected speculation about the company spinning the asset off.
"No, we are very happy with our mix of assets," Murdoch replied when asked about a possible spin-off.
- AAP
