Tag: amortization

  • News Corp net profit down 52%; revenue down 1%

    News Corp net profit down 52%; revenue down 1%

    MUMBAI: News Corp’s quarterly profit was down 52 per cent due to foreign-exchange fluctuations and lower advertising sales offset revenue gains in book publishing and the digital real-estate business.

     

    The company’s net income for the three months ended 31 March, 2015 fell to $23 million, or four cents a share, from $48 million, or eight cents, in the same period a year earlier.

     

    For the fiscal 2015 third quarter, total revenues slipped one per cent to $2.06 billion as compared to $2.08 billion in the prior year. The majority of the revenue decline reflects negative foreign currency fluctuations and lower advertising revenues at the News and Information Services segment, offset in large part by growth in the Book Publishing and Digital Real Estate Services segments as a result of the acquisition of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and Move, Inc., respectively.

     

    News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said, “The new News Corp continues to build a firm foundation for digital growth. We see that most clearly in the successful integration of realtor.com®, which grew audience and revenue at record levels in the third quarter. News Corp is now a global leader in digital real estate, which we believe will underpin long-term expansion and complement our expertise in news and financial analysis, both of which have been important ingredients in realtor.com’s accelerated growth. While the quarter faced some revenue challenges, particularly at News and Information Services, including currency headwinds, our adjusted EBITDA was relatively stable, underscoring the strength of our assets and the diversification of our revenue base. We believe the company is firmly on track and the signs are positive for year-over-year EBITDA growth in the fourth quarter.”

     

    As compared to $175 million in the prior year, News Corp’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell seven per cent to $163 million on legal costs, currency fluctuations and increased stock-based compensation expenses from the acquisition of Move Inc.

     

    These results include $15 million and $20 million in fees and costs – net of indemnification – related to the U.K. Newspaper Matters in the three months ended 31 March, 2015 and 2014, respectively. Declines at the News and Information Services segment, including higher legal costs at News America Marketing, negative foreign currency fluctuations and increased stock-based compensation expense resulting from the acquisition of Move were partially offset by lower expenses at Amplify and increased revenues in the Book Publishing segment due to the inclusion of Harlequin results.

     

    Free cash flow available to News Corporation decreased by $105 million in the nine months ended March 31, 2015 to $391 million, primarily as a result of certain one-time items.

  • Rediff.com Q2 net profit up at $1.5 mn

    Rediff.com Q2 net profit up at $1.5 mn

    MUMBAI: Rediff.com has posted a net a income of $ 1.5 million, or 5.14 cents per ADS, for the second quarter ended 30 September 2006, up from $ 310,000, or 1.19 cents per ADS, a year ago.

    Revenues rose by $6.66 million, an increase of 53 per cent over revenues from the quarter ended 30 September 2005. While India contributed to online revenues that grew by 71 per cent to $4.71 million, as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

    US Publishing revenues for the second quarter increased by 23 per cent to $1.95 million compared to the revenues for the quarter ended 30 September 2005, states an official release.

    Operating EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) increased to US $1.14 million for the quarter ended 30 September 2006 as compared to US $0.50 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.

    With revenues from the India Online advertising business growing by 94 per cent for the quarter ended 30 September, compared to the same quarter in the prior fiscal year, online advertising remains the primary growth driver for the company.

    There has also been a spike in the number of registered users on the site which has grown by 21 per cent to 47.7 million, over the number of registered users a year ago.

  • DirecTV US 2Q revenues increase 12% to $3.3 billion

    DirecTV US 2Q revenues increase 12% to $3.3 billion

    MUMBAI:The DirecTV Group Inc. today reported that the second quarter revenues increased 10 per cent to $3.52 billion and operating profit nearly doubled to $977 million compared to last year’s second quarter.

    The Group reported second quarter 2006 operating profit and net income both more than doubled to $741 million and $459 million, respectively, when compared to the same period last year.

    Earnings per share were $0.36 compared with $0.12 in the same period last year. These operating results include the effect of $253 million of equipment that DirecTV US capitalized during the quarter under its lease program, which was implemented 1 March 2006, according to an official statement.

    “Similar to recent quarters, DirecTV US generated excellent financial results highlighted by a 12 per cent increase in revenues to $3.3 billion, a 93 per cent increase in operating profit before depreciation and amortization to $977 million and a nearly tripling of cash flow before interest and taxes to $450 million,” said DirecTV Group president and CEO Chase Carey.

    “In many ways, the results in the quarter reflect our strategy to target higher quality subscribers. For example, although gross subscriber additions of 863,000 and net additions of 125,000 in the quarter were below expectations, it’s important to note that we added 11 per cent more higher quality gross subscribers in the quarter compared to last year,” said Carey.

    “This trend — which is driving both the top-line and bottom-line financial results — is primarily due to the ongoing changes we’re making to refine our credit policy and dealer network. These factors played an important role in reducing DirecTV’s monthly churn rate from 1.69 per cent to 1.59 per cent this quarter.”

    “In addition, customers are buying more premium services such as high definition programming and digital video recorders which is contributing to the strong ARPU growth of 5.6 per cent in the quarter.”

    On 1 March 2006, DirecTV US introduced a set-top receiver lease program primarily to increase future profitability by providing DirecTV US with the opportunity to retrieve and reuse set-top receivers from deactivated customers. Under this new program, set-top receivers are capitalized and depreciated over their estimated useful lives of three years.

    The amount of cash DirecTV U.S. paid during the quarter ended 30 June 2006 for leased set-top receivers totaled $253 million — $153 million for subscriber acquisitions and $100 million for upgrade and retention.