News Corp has posted record numbers overnight with net income for the fiscal year of $US760 million ($A1.1 billion) and revenues of $US10.39 billion ($A14.9 billion). The results were for both the fourth quarter and the overall financial year.
The media giant’s media segment, its real estate arm REA Group and Foxtel’s recent turnaround (namely via Kayo and BINGE) were all singled out for their contributions to the impressive numbers.
Commenting on the result, News Corp’s chief executive Robert Thomson (pictured above), said: “Our provenance and principles endure at News Corporation but the business has been fundamentally transformed – we are vastly more profitable and have created a potent platform for even greater growth, to the benefit of all our investors and other stakeholders.”
Thomson said of Foxtel’s turnaround: “Foxtel’s renaissance continued, as streaming revenues from Kayo and BINGE offset broadcast declines during the year. While down slightly for the year due to currency fluctuations, both revenue and profitability were markedly higher on an adjusted basis.
“The Foxtel Group is a company transformed, and one generating record metrics,” he said.
Foxtel’s total streaming subscribers to the end of June were up 31 per cent from a year ago to 2.8 million, while broadcast churn fell to 13.8 per cent in the fourth quarter.
Total Foxtel Group subscribers increased to 4.529 million (4.413 million of which were paid), which was up 13 per cent on the previous year.
Real estate listing site REA Group posted full-year revenue for its digital real estate services segment increasing by 25 per cent to $US1.741 billion ($A2.4 billion). While its revenue increased by 37 per cent to $US1 billion ($A1.43 billion).
News Corp’s news assets which includes its newspapers (including The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun here in Australia) and news websites added $US217 million ($A311 million) in profit to this year’s bottom line. The numbers were up from $US52 million ($A74 million) in 2021.
News Corp’s chief financial officer Susan Panuccio added: “We again saw a very strong performance in advertising as well as continued growth in circulation and subscription revenues, which was driven by the contribution from our recent content licensing deals, higher fourth-quarter digital subscriptions and cover price rises.
“Digital revenues continue to expand, increasing to 35 per cent of segment revenues from 32 per cent, primarily driven by the strength of digital advertising which we expect will soon be the largest source of the segment’s advertising revenues.
“Within the segment, revenues at News Corp Australia increased six per cent and revenues at News UK were flat, as both were materially impacted by currency headwinds. The New York Post also continued to show strong top-line growth, up 23 per cent.”
However, Panuccio also outlined some headwinds facing the company for the rest of 2022 and beyond.
“We expect cost impacts from continued supply chain and inflationary pressures, together with wage inflation challenges to continue,” she said.
“We will take necessary action to address those pressures, including pricing adjustments, together with our ongoing focus on cost management.
“Visibility on advertising remains limited across the businesses and we continue to expect foreign exchange headwinds, given the current spot rates for the Australian dollar and pound sterling compared to the prior year,” Panuccio said.
