News Corp Reports 30 Percent Jump In Revenue

News Corp reported a 30% increase in revenue for the June quarter, fueled by gains in its digital real-estate, book-publishing and Dow Jones units, reports WSJ.

The New York-based media company, whose holdings include The Wall Street Journal and the HarperCollins publishing division, narrowed its net loss to $14 million, or 2 cents a share, from the year-earlier $397 million, or 67 cents a share. Revenue grew to $2.49 billion from $1.92 billion.

The company’s news-media businesses showed strong growth in advertising sales, as the easing of the pandemic led marketers to increase their spending.

Revenue at the Dow Jones unit increased 18% to $449 million, driven by gains in advertising revenue and circulation and subscription revenue, as well as the company’s acquisition of Investor’s Business Daily. Advertising revenue increased 45%, with strong performance in both the digital and print businesses.

The company said digital-only subscriptions to Dow Jones’s consumer products grew 26%. The Wall Street Journal had more than 2.7 million average digital-only subscribers in the quarter, compared with 2.63 million in the March quarter. Total average subscriptions to Dow Jones consumer products reached about 4.5 million, the company said.

The digital real-estate unit surged, with revenue jumping 74%, driven by gains at Move and REA Group and currency fluctuations. The subscription video unit, home to the company’s majority interest in the Foxtel pay-TV service in Australia, was also boosted by currency moves, as well as higher streaming revenue.

The book-publishing unit was helped by higher frontlist and backlist sales, including the “Bridgerton” series and “The Women of the Bible Speak.” Revenue was up 21% from a year ago, to $493 million.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization across News Corp’s units rose 8% in the quarter.