News Corporation Reports Record Second Quarter Operating Income of $1.4 Billion, a 24% Increase on Revenue Growth of 10%

Monday, February 4th, 2008
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Net Income Increases to $832 Million

  • Cable Network Programming operating income up 23% despite launch costs for the Fox Business Network and the Big Ten Network. Growth led by gains at the Fox News Channel, the Regional Sports Networks and Fox International Channels.
  • SKY Italia generates operating income of $62 million, an improvement of $74 million versus a year ago, reflecting net subscriber additions of 400,000 over the past 12 months as the subscriber base expands to 4.43 million.
  • Television operating income more than doubles, increasing $133 million, as ratings strength and increased pricing fuel advertising growth at the FOX broadcast network.
  • Filmed Entertainment delivers operating income of $403 million on strength of home entertainment titles and successful theatrical release slate.
  • Increased demand for in-store marketing products increases Magazines and Inserts operating income 15%, while the strength of current year titles results in operating income growth of 24% at Book Publishing.
  • Newspapers and Information Services operating income increases 15% versus a year ago led by strong results in Australia which included advertising growth.
  • Completed previously announced acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of Dow Jones & Company.

NEW YORK, NY — News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) today reported second quarter net income of $832 million ($0.27 per share), as compared with $822 million ($0.26 per share on a diluted combined basis) reported in the second quarter a year ago.

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SKY Italia reported a second quarter operating income of $62 million, an improvement of $74 million versus a loss of $12 million a year ago, on local currency revenue growth of 12%. This improvement primarily reflects subscriber additions, with more than 400,000 net subscribers added over the past 12 months, bringing SKY Italia’s subscriber base to 4.43 million at quarter end. The revenue growth was partially offset by increased programming spending associated with the larger subscriber base, as well as costs associated with the launch of new channels.

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