News Corp surges 7pc on result
Bumper quarter triggers rally
NEWS Corp shares rallied almost 7 per cent after the company continued to build on its strong performance of the past financial year with a bumper September quarter.
The latest result was underpinned by record profitability of Dow Jones, the ongoing success of subscription streaming company Foxtel, and the market dominance of the company’s digital real estate assets.
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson said the first quarter of the 2022 financial year “was the most profitable of its kind since the relaunch of News Corp in 2013, building on the trends evident in the last financial year”.
Revenue for the September quarter was $US2.5bn ($3.78bn), an increase of 18 per cent, while the media company’s net profit surged to $US267m from $US47m in the previous corresponding period.
The better-than-expected results propelled News Corp shares 6.94 per cent higher to $33.90 on Friday.
Mr Thomson noted that Dow Jones, which includes The Wall Street Journal, “achieved stronger profitability than any first quarter in its 140-year history”.
News Corp’s Australian mastheads include The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun, The CourierMail and Adelaide’s The Advertiser.
Mr Thomson also highlighted the success of the performance of Australian-based subscription streaming company Foxtel, which last month launched a new live news streaming platform Flash, following on from the successful rollout of its entertainment platform Binge in 2020 and Kayo Sports in 2018.
At the end of September, total Foxtel subscribers numbered about four million, up 18 per cent year-on-year.
This includes a record 2.2 million streaming subscribers – consisting of Binge, Kayo and Foxtel Now customers – up 68 per cent from the first quarter of 2020/21.
The Digital Real Estate Services division’s revenues increased 47 per cent, driven primarily by strong yield and demand at the REA Group and Move.
Shares in realestate.com.au operator REA, which is majority owned by News Corp, surged 5.6 per cent to $176.81. REA’s revenue after broker commissions grew 22 per cent to $264m for the quarter, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation lifted 24 per cent to $158m.