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Tag: Harlequin

  • Q1-2016: News Corp revenue declines 4.5 percent

    Q1-2016: News Corp revenue declines 4.5 percent

    BENGALURU: Rupert Murdoch helmed News Corporation reported a 4.5 per cent YoY decline in consolidated revenues in the quarter ended 20 September, 2015 (Q1-2016, current quarter) at $2,014 million as compared to the prior year’s quarter revenue of $2,2108 million. Reported Consolidated EBIDTA in the current quarter declined 14.9 per cent YoY to $165 million from $194 million.

     

    Negative foreign currency fluctuations in the current quarter reduced Total Segment EBITDA by $29 million as compared to Q1-2015. Income from continuing operations was $143 million as compared to $109 million in Q1-2015 due to a tax benefit from the release of valuation allowances resulting from the planned disposal of the digital education business, partially offset by lower Total Segment EBITDA, lower Other, net and lower equity earnings of affiliates says News Corp.

     

    Earnings per share from continuing operations available to News Corporation stockholders in the current quarter were $0.22 as compared to $0.15 in Q1-2015. Adjusted EPS were $0.05 in Q1-2016 compared to $0.13 in Q1-2015.

     

    News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said, “News Corp is on track in its transition to a more digital and global future, having successfully integrated several recent acquisitions and built a powerful platform for future growth. We are focused on driving sustainable expansion of revenue and profit, and leveraging the potency of our brands, while diligently controlling costs to maximise long-term returns for all investors. Foreign exchange fluctuations negatively impacted reported results, but this should not obscure the progress at many of our businesses. In fact, News Corp’s revenues, excluding the effect of currency, grew four per cent this quarter, underscoring the value of our shift to higher growth businesses and our prudent reinvestment strategy.”

     

    “We are particularly pleased with the momentum at realtor.com, which is significantly ahead of schedule on key metrics. We are now, by some reckoning, the world’s largest digital property listings company and we see a particularly bright future in the sector, especially in the U.S. where we believe the national real estate market is still returning to health,” he added.

     

    “Our digital expertise has been enhanced by the addition of Unruly and Checkout 51, which we expect will have a positive impact across our businesses and around the world. We are already seeing significant new opportunities because of Unruly’s unique skills in measuring the social and viral penetration of advertising campaigns. We are on the cusp of significant upheaval in the advertising market, which has been distorted by trash traffic, invisible impressions and mockable metrics, to the detriment of advertisers, large and small,” he further said. 

     

    “With recent M&A activity highlighting the rising value of global financial news brands, the progress at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal is noteworthy, with growth in print and digital advertising, and improvements in the professional information business.”

     

    Segment Revenue

     

    News and Information Services

     

    This is News Corp’s largest segment. Revenues for the segment declined 11.1 per cent to $1,290 million in the current quarter as compared to the $1451 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.  The segment’s EBIDTA declined 21 per cent YoY to $83 million from $105 million due to lower advertising revenues and $5 million of higher legal expenses at News America Marketing claims the company.

     

    News Corp says that total segment advertising revenues declined 13 per cent, primarily due to negative foreign currency fluctuations, weakness in the print advertising market, most notably in Australia, and lower revenues at News America Marketing. 

     

    Circulation and subscription revenues declined six per cent, due to negative foreign currency fluctuations, partially offset by higher subscription pricing and cover price increases. At Dow Jones, the company saw growth in both print and digital advertising revenues and higher circulation revenues at The Wall Street Journal as well as modest growth of professional information business revenues. 

     

    Adjusted revenues declined three per cent compared to the prior year. Total segment advertising revenues declined five per cent and circulation and subscription revenues increased two per cent, excluding the impact of $60 million and $45 million, respectively, from negative foreign currency fluctuations.

    Book Publishing

     

    Revenues for the segment increased 0.7 per cent to $409 million in the current quarter as compared to the $406 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. The revenue growth was driven by  driven by strong sales in General Books resulting from the popularity of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee and the inclusion of the results of Harlequin, acquired in August 2014, partially offset by lower revenues from the Divergent series, lower e-book sales and negative foreign currency fluctuations. Digital sales represented 20 per cent of consumer revenues for the quarter. 

     

    The segment’s EBIDTA declined 23.6 per cent YoY to $42 million from $55 million.

     

    Digital Real Estate Services

     

    Revenues for the segment increased 70.5 per cent to $191 million in the current quarter as compared to the $112 million in Q1-2015 primarily driven by the inclusion of the results of Move, acquired in November 2014. At REA Group, increased revenues from greater residential listing depth product penetration and improved listing volumes in Australia were more than offset by negative foreign currency fluctuations.

     

    The segment’s EBIDTA was flat YoY at $57 million due to negative foreign currency fluctuations.

     

    News Corp claims that in Q1-2016, Move’s revenues increased 33 per cent on a stand-alone basis to $85 million in the current quarter from $64 million in the corresponding prior year. Move saw continued strength in its Connection for Co-Brokerage product and non-listing Media revenues, coupled with market share gains for its Top Producer software product. Based on Move’s internal data, average monthly unique users of realtor.com’s web and mobile sites for the quarter grew 43 per cent year-over-year to approximately 46 million, which was driven by 64 per cent growth in mobile users.

     

    Cable Network Programming

    Revenues declined 10.9 per cent in the current quarter to $124 million from $139 million in Q1-2015, while the company says that Adjusted revenues increased 10 per cent, primarily due to higher affiliate and advertising revenues.

     

    The segment’s EBIDTA declined 12.5 per cent in Q1-2016 to $28 million from $32 million in Q1-2015. News Corp claims that Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased nine per cent, primarily due to an increase in revenues, as noted above, partially offset by expected higher programming rights costs related to the Rugby World Cup. Negative foreign currency fluctuations reduced reported revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 by $29 million as compared to the prior year.

     

    Other

     

    News Corp says that Segment EBITDA in the quarter improved by $10 million compared to the corresponding prior year, primarily due to lower fees and costs, net of indemnification, related to the claims and investigations arising out of certain conduct at The News of the World.

     

    The net expense related to the U.K. Newspaper Matters was $5 million for Q1-2016 as compared to $14 million for Q1-2015.

  • FY-2015: News & Info services retard News Corp revenue growth to 0.7%

    FY-2015: News & Info services retard News Corp revenue growth to 0.7%

    BENGALURU: A seven per cent drop in revenue in its largest segment – News & Information services dragged News Corporation’s total revenue to just 0.7 per cent growth to $8633 million in the year ended 30 June, 2015 (FY-2015) as compared to $8574 million in FY-2014. During the quarter ended ?30 June, 2015 (Q4-2015), the company’s NIS segment 10 per cent drop in revenues combined with the drop of two per cent from the Cable Programming Segment (CPS) saw News Corp total revenue drop 2.1 per cent to $2141 million as compared to the $2186 million in Q4-2014.

     

    The company explains that the majority of the revenue decline reflects adverse foreign currency fluctuations and lower advertising revenues at the News and Information Services segment, partially offset by growth in the Digital Real Estate Services and Book Publishing segments, primarily as a result of the acquisitions of Move and Harlequin, respectively.

     

    News Corp total EBIDTA however increased 10.6 per cent in the current year to $852 million as compared to the $770 million in FY-2014. YoY, News Corp total EBIDTA improved 50.4 per cent to $191 million in Q4-2015 as compared to the $127 million in Q4-2014. The company says that this increase was primarily driven by lower expenses at the News and Information Services and Digital Education segments, partially offset by adverse foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA increased 62 per cent compared to the prior year.

     

    News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said, “Thanks to solid performance across a number of our businesses, including the fast-growing realtor.com, we had a strong fourth quarter finish to a good fiscal year. Despite an uneven global economy, very tough currency headwinds and the ongoing transformation of the media landscape, for fiscal 2015 we posted stable revenues, robust EBITDA growth and healthy free cash flow.”

     

    “With disciplined internal investments, strategic acquisitions and ongoing product innovation, we have aggressively shifted the company to be more global and more digital. We have clearly emerged as an international leader in digital real estate, opened up new territories at HarperCollins, expanded digital subscriber penetration at our mastheads and successfully integrated our programmatic exchange, creating new digital and mobile advertising opportunities across News Corp. We have begun to execute on a capital return program that signifies our confidence in the prospects of the company and the efficacy of its long-term strategy. The year ahead will be an opportunity to build on the sound and profitable platform we have collectively created,” he added.

     

    Net loss available to News Corp stockholders in FY-2015 was $379 million as compared to net income available to News Corp stockholders of $12 million in FY-2014. Impairment and restructuring charges were $424 million and $21 million in Q4-2015 and Q4-2014 respectively. The impairment and restructuring charges for the three months ended 30 June, 2015 include an impairment charge of $371 million related to Amplify, as discussed above. Adjusted net income available to News Corp stockholders was $38 million compared to $6 million in the prior year.

     

    Segment Results

     

    News & Information Services (NIS)

     

    NIS FY-2015 full revenues decreased by $422 million, or seven per cent, compared to the prior year. Total segment advertising revenues declined 10 per cent, driven primarily by weakness in the print advertising market coupled with the negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations. Circulation and subscription revenues declined four per cent, due to adverse foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted revenues declined three per cent compared to the prior year.

     

    In FY-2015, NIS segment EBITDA decreased $62 million, or nine per cent, as compared to the prior year. The corporation says that results were impacted by lower advertising revenues, higher legal expenses at News America Marketing of $20 million, negative foreign currency fluctuations and one-time expenses of $11 million related to the termination of a distribution contract in connection with continued cost reduction initiatives, which more than offset lower operating expenses. Adjusted Segment EBITDA decreased six per cent compared to FY-2014.

     

    Revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 decreased $154 million, or 10 per cent, compared to the prior year, as a result of a 13 per cent decline in advertising revenues and a five per cent decline in circulation revenues, driven by negative foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted revenues declined two per cent compared to the prior year. Segment EBITDA increased $38 million in the quarter, or 29 per cent, as compared to Q4-2014. The increase was driven by lower operating expenses, partially offset by lower advertising revenues, one-time expenses of $11 million related to the termination of a distribution contract in connection with continued cost reduction initiatives and negative foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 34 per cent compared to the prior year.

     

     

    Book Publishing

     

    FY-2015 revenues for News Corp Book Publishing segment increased $233 million, or 16 per cent, compared to the prior year driven by the inclusion of Harlequin results and strong backlist sales in the general books category, resulting from the success of American Sniper by Chris Kyle, partially offset by lower revenues from the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Digital sales, which consist of revenues generated through the sale of e-books and digital audio books, represented 22 per cent of Consumer revenues for fiscal 2015. Segment EBITDA increased $24 million, or 12 per cent, from the prior year primarily due to the inclusion of the results of Harlequin and lower expenses, partially offset by lower contribution from the Divergent series. Adjusted revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA each decreased 2 per cent, compared to the prior year.

     

    Book Publishing Revenues in Q4-2015 increased $29 million, or eight per cent, compared to Q4-2014 driven by the inclusion of Harlequin results, partially offset by lower revenues from the Divergent series. Digital sales represented 23 per cent of Consumer revenues for the quarter. Segment EBITDA was flat from the prior year as the inclusion of results from Harlequin and lower expenses offset lower contribution from the Divergent series.

     

    Digital Real Estate Services (DRES)

     

    FY-2015 revenues increased for the DRES segment to $217 million, or 53 per cent, compared to FY-2014, primarily due to the inclusion of the results of Move, which was acquired in November 2014, coupled with higher revenues at REA Group Limited (REA Group) due to the impact of increased listing depth product penetration and higher pricing, despite a decline in Australian listing volumes across the market and the negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations. Segment EBITDA decreased $13 million, or six per cent, compared to the prior year primarily due to the inclusion of a loss of $39 million related to the acquisition of Move and negative foreign currency fluctuations, partially offset by increased revenues at REA Group. Segment EBITDA includes $21 million of stock-based compensation expense and $19 million of one-time transaction costs, both related to the acquisition of Move. Adjusted revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 18 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, compared to the prior year.

     

    For the full year, Move saw strength in its Connection for Co-Brokerage product and Media revenues. Based on Move’s internal data, average monthly unique users of realtor.com’s web and mobile sites for the fiscal fourth quarter grew 42 per cent year-over-year to approximately 45 million, which was driven by almost 80 per cent growth in mobile users; traffic accelerated in July to 48 million monthly unique users, or 43 per cent growth year-over-year.

     

    Revenues in Q4-2015 increased $76 million, or 67 per cent, compared to Q4-2014 due to the inclusion of the results of Move coupled with higher listing depth product penetration and higher pricing at REA Group. Segment EBITDA in the quarter decreased $17 million, or 27 per cent, compared to the prior year due to certain expenses at Move and the negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations, partially offset by the improvement at REA Group. At Move, strong revenue performance was offset by $7 million of legal expenses and $5 million of stock-based compensation expense related to the acquisition.

     

    Adjusted revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 15 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, compared to the prior year.

     

    Cable Networking Programming (CNP)

     

    CNP’s FY-2015 revenues increased $9 million, or two per cent, compared to the prior year driven by higher affiliate and advertising revenues, partially offset by adverse foreign currency fluctuations. Segment EBITDA increased $7 million, or five per cent, from FY-2014, primarily driven by higher revenues, partially offset by adverse foreign currency fluctuations and higher programming costs. Adjusted revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA for FY-2015 increased 11 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, compared to FY-2014.

     

    In Q4-2015, revenues decreased $3 million, or two per cent, compared to Q4-2014, as higher affiliate and advertising revenues were more than offset by negative foreign currency fluctuations. Segment EBITDA in the quarter increased $3 million, or 16 per cent, compared to the prior year. Adjusted revenues increased 15 per cent and Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 37 per cent, compared to the prior year.

     

    Digital Education

     

    Revenues for the full year increased $21 million, or 24 per cent, compared to the prior year. Segment EBITDA improved $100 million, or 52 per cent, compared to the prior year, primarily due to the impact of the capitalization of Amplify Learning’s software development costs of $53 million, reduced development expenses and increased revenues.

     

    Revenues in Q4-2015 increased $6 million, or 33 per cent, and Segment EBITDA improved $29 million, or 55 per cent.

     

    Others

     

    In FY-2015, Others Segment EBITDA improved by $26 million, primarily due to decreased fees and costs, net of indemnification, related to the claims and investigations arising out of certain conduct at The News of the World (the U K Newspaper Matters”).

     

    The net expense related to the U K Newspaper Matters was $50 million for the full year, as compared to $72 million in the prior year.

     

    Segment EBITDA in the quarter improved by $11 million. The net expense related to the UK Newspaper Matters was $8 million for the three months ended 30 June, 2015, as compared to $16 million in the prior year.

  • News Corp launches initial stock buyback programme

    News Corp launches initial stock buyback programme

    MUMBAI: News Corp has begun repurchasing shares of Class A Common Stock under its previously disclosed buyback program.

    This marks the first time that the company has bought back stock under the program since the “new” News Corp was established as a separate, publicly-traded company in mid-2013.

    “We had indicated to investors that we needed two years to set the new News firmly on a digital and global course, and are confident that the substantial progress made thus far enables us to take this positive action ahead of schedule. The development of our print businesses, the prudent extension of our portfolio and the stewardship of our resources mean that we are able to consider our capital allocation options from a position of strength. Our buyback program is clearly a vote of confidence in the company’s prospects and its potential,” said News Corp CEO Robert Thomson.

    Future repurchases, if any, will depend on the company’s liquidity and cash flow, as well as general market conditions and other considerations.

    Since the separation of News Corporation into two companies in 2013, News Corp has pursued a strategy of digital and global growth, and has created a diverse line of businesses, bolstered by such acquisitions as Harlequin and Move, Inc.

  • NFDC Labs announces Romance Screenwriters’ Lab in association with Harlequin

    NFDC Labs announces Romance Screenwriters’ Lab in association with Harlequin

    MUMBAI: Got a romance story idea that you wish to see manifest into a book as well? NFDC Labs, the Training and Development arm of NFDC (The National Film Development Corporation Ltd), announces today the Romance Screenwriters’ Lab in association with the world’s leading publishers of the most popular romance fiction series Mills and Boon, Harlequin. The lab, a three-part program, organized and spearheaded by NFDC, is the first of its kind with romance and women-centric plots as the themes, where popular Indian film writers/directors, to be announced soon, will mentor the final selected scriptwriters. The deadline for the submission of the entries is 23 May 2014.

     

    The objective of the lab is to help aspiring Indian scriptwriters develop their scripts with inputs and consultation from well-known Indian writers/directors. The first round of selection from the entries received will be done basis the synopsis submitted, post which the selected participants will need to submit a detailed script with dialogues, where the best few will be zeroed on.

     

    While NFDC will conduct the three-part workshop with the selected participants on scriptwriting mentored by writers/directors, Harlequin too will have separate book-writing workshops led by well known authors, offering novel writing tips and editorial feedback to the writers. The partnership between NFDC and Harlequin brings in innovative and collaborative efforts where Harlequin will offer book deals to select writers.

     

    Commenting on the launch of this initiative, Nina Lath Gupta, Managing Director, NFDC India, said, “We are thrilled to introduce the first of its kind Romance Screenwriters’ Lab this year. With romance as an eternally entertaining genre worldwide, where India is no exception to stories and films in this space, our partnership with Harlequin, world’s leading publishers, for this initiative couldn’t be a better fit. There is a vast pool of exceptionally talented writers with unique and diverse stories in this country and offering this opportunity to enhance their skills with talented mentors will only help us compliment our ongoing developmental mandate.”

     

    “Entertaining stories that connect with people can transcend formats and be told successfully through books or cinema. Harlequin India is excited about the Romance Screenwriters Lab partnership with NFDC. It is a unique arrangement to identify storytellers who can write both screenplays and novels. We are looking forward to getting original and compelling romance stories, which could have elements of drama or thriller or comedy or even darker issues, and be set in contemporary times or any time in the past.” – said, Amrita Chowdhury, Country Head & Publishing Director, Harlequin India.

    Duration of the Lab: The lab will be held in three sessions, namely: the first session – last week of July 2014; second session – third week of Sept 2014; the third and the final session – 16th November – 20th November 2014, culminating just before Film Bazaar 2014. NFDC will offer an opportunity to the selected participants to attend Film Bazaar and pitch their projects to the attending India and international delegates, comprising producers, investors, distributors, sales agents, and the likes.

     

    For more details on rules and regulations of the lab, please visit: http://filmbazaarindia.com/programs/romance-screenwriters-lab/