SYDNEY - News Corporation says it is ideally suited to deliver strong returns in the future after delivering a solid first quarter net profit.
News Corp reported first quarter 2005/06 consolidated operating income of US$909 million ($1.4 billion), up 19 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
"With solid momentum throughout the company and a strong foundation of new media investments, we believe we are ideally situated to deliver continued strong returns in the future," chairman and chief executive officer Rupert Murdoch said.
However a US$1 billion non-cash charge associated with its US television station licences has resulted in News Corp reporting a net loss of US$433 million, compared with a net profit of US$625 million in the same period a year earlier.
"The Company recorded a non-cash charge of US$1.0 billion, net of tax, or US$0.31 per share on a diluted combined basis, in the first quarter, to reduce the intangible balances attributable to its television stations' Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licenses," the company said.
News Corp reported revenues of US$5.7 billion for the first quarter, up ten per cent over the US$5.1 billion in the prior year.
The company said operating income growth during the first quarter was driven by double-digit percentage increases at the filmed entertainment, cable network programming, magazines and inserts and book publishing segments, as well as by significant improvement at SKY Italia.
News Corp's newspapers segment reported first quarter operating income of US$125 million, an increase of US$7 million compared to the same period a year ago.
"The inclusion of results from the Queensland Press Group, which was acquired in November 2004, as well as higher advertising revenues in Australia, drove the year-on-year growth," the company said.
"The Australian newspaper group reported a substantial increase in first quarter operating income in local currency terms versus fiscal 2005.
The company said its UK newspaper group reported an operating income decline in local currency terms in the first quarter as circulation revenue growth was more than offset by lower advertising revenues and higher depreciation costs associated with the development of new colour printing operations.
"The circulation revenue gains were the result of increased cover prices across all major titles, as well as from the conversion to a compact version at The Times," it said.
- AAP
News Corp says ready to deliver strong returns
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