November 8, 2012

Profits. Again.

From Great Britain's Scotsman.com — Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has revealed better-than-expected quarterly profits thanks to a strong performance from its cable television networks.

News Corp. made $2.2 billion in the three months to 30 September, compared to $738 million in the same period last year, aided by a $1.4bn pre-tax gain on the sale of pay-TV encryption firm NDS.

At the group's cable networks division, operating income rose 23 per cent to $953m, lifted by growth at regional sports channels, the FX network and Fox News Channel.

The firm booked a $75m pre-tax gain from its participation in BSkyB's share buy-back program.

But the publishing business - which includes the group's newspapers - reported a 48 per cent drop in operating income to $57m due to lower advertising revenue.