News Corp’s numbers continue to improve with profits more than doubling in the quarter ending March 31 (FY3Q) to $820 million from $400 million year over year. The gain from an asset sale by DirecTV helped; News Corp. owns 37.9 percent of the satellite provider. But the company’s own overall performance was stronger, producing revenues of $6.2 billion, up from $6.04 billion the previous year. One sore spot: newspaper revenue dipped to $153 million; the $33 million decrease was attributed to “lower contributions” from the U.K. newspaper group. Book publishing also was down. News Corp. beat Thompson First Call estimates (via MKTW) with earnings per share of 26 cents compared to the analysts’ estimate of 20 cents.
– News Corp. promised to double its stock buyback program to $6 billion
– Cable programming revenue was up 23 percent thanks to higher ad revenue from Fox News Channel and higher regional sports affiliate fees.
– Online revenue is not broken out.
Earnings release| Webcast (replay)

10:28:09 AM    comment   

Time for Le Crunch

Moves by French politicians to soften plans that will force Apple and others to open up DRM to help consumers do not go far enough, industry representatives have claimed. The interoperabilty bill was passed yesterday by the upper house of the French parliament.âo[oe]

10:20:12 AM    comment   

The days of the dedicated music player, says the Yankee Group, are numbered; the MP3 phone is what tomorrow's mobile users will want. It's a trend anybody who has been watching the Sony Ericsson "Walkman" phone sales will not find a surprise.

10:16:51 AM    comment