News Corp Profit Grows

News Corp (NWSA 11.56) reported earnings that topped the consensus estimate as growth in cable network programming and a strong slate of films at the box office offset declines in other areas of the business.

News Corp reported fiscal first quarter earnings of $0.22 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.18.  Net income of $571 million increased 11% from the same period last year.

Revenues fell 4.1% year-over-year to $7.2 billion; the consensus expected $7.16 billion.

News Corp said the increased profit reflects double-digit profit increases at the Filmed Entertainment, Cable Network Programming and Book Publishing segments, partially offset by decreases at the Television, Direct Broadcast Satellite Television, Newspapers and Information Services and Other segments.

"The economies in which we do business are clearly in better shape than they were a year ago, and we have further positioned our operations to take advantage of the improvements we are seeing globally." said CEO Rupert Murdoch.