SYDNEY (AFP) - Media giant News Corp. posted a 27 percent rise in first quarter net profit, prompting chief Rupert Murdoch to declare the US-bound company is on the cusp of a new era of prosperity.
News Corp. which ceased trading on Australia's benchmark index Wednesday and is due to list in New York on November 12, reported net profit of 536 million US dollars for the three months to September, up from 422 million US dollars in the same period last year.
Revenues rose by 12 percent to 5.2 billion US dollars, in line with market expectations.
Murdoch, who has nurtured News Corp. from a single Adelaide newspaper into the world's fifth largest media group over the past 52 years, said the imminent US move and strong performances across the company meant the outlook was bright.
"We are on the cusp of a new and more prosperous era for News Corp., an era in which the profit growth we are poised to deliver and the potential of our unmatched asset base translate into stronger returns for our shareholders," Murdoch told reporters in Australian on a conference call from New York.
Murdoch said the first-quarter result underpins his projection for full-year operating earnings growth in the "mid-to-high teens".
"We remain very optimistic that we will deliver another record year of earnings," he said.
"We experienced double digit growth across nearly all our key operating segments, we are not relying on just one or two of our businesses to drive our growth, but eight or nine. None of these businesses show signs of slowing up," he said.
Operating profit at the cable TV unit jumped 47 percent to 196 million US dollars.
The filmed entertainment unit reported a 13 percent fall in operating profit of 285 million US dollars, partly because of higher marketing costs, News Corp. said.
The company's broadcast television business had a 30 percent increase in operating profit of 233 million US dollars, while its newspapers reported operating income of 120 million US dollars, up 18 percent.
Losses in the satellite-TV unit increased 3.4 percent to 121 million US dollars due to subscriber acquisition costs at Sky Italia.
Murdoch said News Corp.'s pay-TV assets were being established as growth engines for the company, particularly at Sky Italia, BSkyB and DirecTV.

11/04/2004 - 06:45 GMT - AFP