• by Ray Schultz , November 9, 2023

News Corp. had a robust first quarter to its 2024 fiscal year, but revenue was basically flat year over year.  

Q1 revenues totaled $2.50 billion, a 1% increase over the $248 billion seen in Q1 2023. 

“We had a sterling start to the new Fiscal Year, with rising revenues and increased profitability despite difficult economic conditions in some of our markets,” says Chief Executive Robert Thomson. “Our first quarter revenues were slightly higher at $2.5 billion, while our profitability rose 4%, marking the second consecutive quarter of profit growth.”

That increase in profitability was due, in part, to cost savings from a 5% headcount reduction.

Meanwhile, News Corp. is “actively working to make the most of our premium content for AI and are engaged in advanced discussions that we expect to bring significant revenue to the company in return for the authorized use of our peerless content,” Thompson continues. 

Net income was $58 million, down from $66 million in the prior year.

The revenue hike was due to increased physical book sales and improved returns in the Book Publishing segment that resulted from the absence of Amazon’s reset in the prior, the company says. Book Publishing revenues saw an 8% hike YoY $525 million. 

In addition, there were higher revenues in the Dow Jones professional information business. 

Thomson notes that the quarter “particularly highlighted the prowess of Dow Jones, led by its professional information business, where revenues surged 14 percent, driven by Risk & Compliance and Dow Jones Energy. Book Publishing reported a 67 percent increase in profitability, with the logistical issues at Amazon resolved, and both the frontlist and backlist performing.”

However, the company saw declines in the Digital Real Estate Service segment caused by the tough housing market conditions in the U.S. And there was a $14 million hit from foreign currency fluctuations and lower ad revenues in the News Media segment. 

Circulation and subscription revenues increased by $22 million, or 5%. Dow Jones now has 5.3 million total subscribers, for The Wall Street Journal and Barrons Group. Of these, 4.6 million are digital only. 

Advertising revenues decreased $3 million, or 3%. This was mostly due to a 6% decline in print and 2% in digital ad revenues. Digital advertising accounted for 66% of the total, versus 65% in the prior year.