News Corp. 1Q Revenue, EPS Top Estimates

News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA) on Wednesday said its quarterly revenue rose by 7%, easily beating Wall Street’s estimates.

The New York-based media conglomerate reported fiscal first quarter revenue of $7.96 billion, compared with $7.43 billion a year ago. Analysts had predicted revenue of $7.66 billion.

News Corp. said the increase was fueled by double-digit percentage affiliate revenue growth at the company's cable network programming and television segments, and double-digit revenue growth at the filmed entertainment unit.

News Corp., the parent company of FOX Business, reported first-quarter total segment operating income of $1.39 billion, a 21% increase over the $1.15 billion of total segment operating income a year ago.

Net profit came to $738 million, or 28 cents per share, versus a net profit of $775 million, or 30 cents per share, a year ago.

The results reflect $130 million of pre-tax charges, the company said, including a fee related to the company's withdrawal of its BSkyB bid in July. News Corp. also recorded a $91 million pre-tax restructuring charge related to its U.K. newspaper business. The company closed its London-based News of the World newspaper in July in the wake of a phone hacking scandal.

Excluding these one-time items, first quarter adjusted earnings per share came in at 32 cents per share, compared with the adjusted year-ago result of 29 cents a share. Analysts had predicted fiscal first quarter profits of 29 cents a share.

News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch said in a statement: “The exceptional strength of our financial results during the first quarter across the majority of our segments is confirmation that News Corporation's core operations are strong and that we are on course to achieve our strategic and financial objectives.”