News Corporation Reports Third Quarter Results for Fiscal 2025

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--News Corporation (“News Corp” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Robert Thomson said: “The sustained strength of News Corp’s third quarter reflects the Company’s strategic transformation. We have pursued digital growth, realigned our assets, focused relentlessly on cost discipline and asserted the essential value of our intellectual property in a changing, challenging content world. Net income from continuing operations rose 67% to $107 million, benefiting from a 12% increase in Total Segment EBITDA to $290 million, as revenue reached $2 billion, despite blustery currency headwinds and obvious macro uncertainty. Reported earnings per share from continuing operations doubled to $0.14 and margins expanded in every segment. The completion of the sale of Foxtel to DAZN last month marked a significant moment for News Corp as we continued to focus on our core pillars and on driving growth. The transaction meaningfully strengthened our balance sheet and is expected to increase return on invested capital, and be accretive to earnings per share. It also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to maximizing returns for our shareholders. Dow Jones was a highlight of the quarter, achieving improved revenue and profit growth, including double-digit revenue growth in digital circulation and at both Risk and Compliance and Dow Jones Energy. We continued to invest in the Professional Information Business, and have just completed the acquisition of Oxford Analytica and Dragonfly Intelligence. The enduring importance of quality journalism cannot be underestimated in the midst of a political and economic maelstrom. The currency of credibility will become even more crucial as AI continues its exponential growth and inevitably blurs the lines between the actual and the anthropomorphic.” THIRD QUARTER RESULTS The Company reported fiscal 2025 third quarter total revenues of $2.01 billion, a 1% increase compared to $1.99 billion in the prior year period, primarily driven by higher circulation and subscription revenues at the Dow Jones segment, higher Australian residential revenues at REA Group and higher book sales at the Book Publishing segment. The increase was partly offset by lower revenues at the News Media segment and a $32 million, or 1%, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted Revenues (which excludes the foreign currency impact, acquisitions and divestitures as defined in Note 2) increased 2% compared to the prior year. Net income from continuing operations for the quarter was $107 million, a 67% increase compared to $64 million in the prior year, primarily driven by higher Total Segment EBITDA and lower impairment and restructuring charges. These impacts were partially offset by higher income tax expense. The Company reported third quarter Total Segment EBITDA of $290 million, a 12% increase compared to $259 million in the prior year primarily due to strong contributions from the Digital Real Estate Services and Dow Jones segments. Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA (as defined in Note 2) increased 15%. Net income from continuing operations per share attributable to News Corporation stockholders was $0.14 as compared to $0.07 in the prior year. Adjusted EPS (as defined in Note 3) were $0.17 compared to $0.13 in the prior year. SEGMENT REVIEW Dow Jones Revenues in the quarter increased $31 million, or 6%, compared to the prior year, driven by higher circulation and subscription revenues from higher digital circulation revenues and continued growth in the professional information business. Digital revenues at Dow Jones in the quarter represented 82% of total revenues compared to 81% in the prior year. Adjusted Revenues increased 6%. Circulation and subscription revenues increased $33 million, or 7%, reflecting a 6% increase in professional information business revenues, led by 11% growth in Risk & Compliance revenues to $84 million and 10% growth in Dow Jones Energy revenues to $69 million, partially offset by lower Factiva revenues primarily due to an ongoing customer dispute. Circulation revenues increased 7% compared to the prior year, primarily driven by the continued growth in digital-only subscriptions and the conversion of customers from introductory promotions to higher pricing, partly offset by lower print volume. Digital circulation revenues accounted for 75% of circulation revenues for the quarter, compared to 70% in the prior year. During the third quarter, total average subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products were 6.1 million, a 7% increase compared to the prior year. Digital-only subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products grew 9% to over 5.5 million. Total subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal grew 3% compared to the prior year, to over 4.3 million average subscriptions in the quarter. Digital-only subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal grew 5% to over 3.9 million average subscriptions in the quarter, and represented 90% of total Wall Street Journal subscriptions. Advertising revenues were flat for the quarter with both print advertising revenues and digital advertising revenues flat. Digital advertising accounted for 63% of total advertising revenues in the quarter in both periods. Segment EBITDA for the quarter increased $14 million, or 12%, primarily as a result of the higher revenues discussed above, partially offset by higher employee, technology and marketing costs. Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 13%. Digital Real Estate Services Revenues in the quarter increased $18 million, or 5%, compared to the prior year, driven by higher revenues at REA Group, while Move revenues increased for the second consecutive quarter. The increases were partly offset by a $14 million, or 3%, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations. Segment EBITDA in the quarter increased $20 million, or 19%, compared to the prior year, due to higher contribution from REA Group and improved results at Move, partly offset by a $6 million, or 6%, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted Revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 8% and 25%, respectively. In the quarter, revenues at REA Group increased $15 million, or 6%, to $271 million, driven by higher Australian residential revenues due to price increases and increased depth penetration and higher revenues from REA India, partly offset by a $14 million, or 5%, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations. Australian national residential buy listing volumes in the quarter were flat compared to the prior year, with listings in Sydney up 4% and Melbourne down 3%. Move’s revenues in the quarter increased $3 million, or 2%, to $135 million, primarily as a result of revenue growth in seller, new homes and rentals, including the partnership with Zillow, partially offset by the ongoing impact of the macroeconomic environment on the housing market, which led to lower lead and transaction volumes. Based on Move’s internal data, average monthly unique users of Realtor.com®’s web and mobile sites for the fiscal third quarter decreased 8% compared to the prior year to 66 million. Lead volume was down 17% year over year due to the continued impact of high mortgage rates and affordability issues, but the impact was partly offset by higher revenue per lead as Move shifts its focus to more premium offerings. Book Publishing Revenues in the quarter increased $8 million, or 2%, compared to the prior year, due to higher book sales driven by the impact from a recently closed German book publisher acquisition, partly offset by a $5 million, or 1%, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations. Key titles in the quarter included Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey, Summer in the City by Alex Aster and The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore, in addition to higher Bible sales. Adjusted Revenues were flat. Digital sales increased 3% compared to the prior year, driven by 3% growth from audiobook sales, including the contribution from Spotify. Digital sales represented 25% of Consumer revenues for both the quarter and the prior year period. Backlist sales represented approximately 65% of Consumer revenues in the quarter compared to 63% in the prior year. Segment EBITDA for the quarter increased $2 million, or 3%, compared to the prior year, primarily due to the higher revenues discussed above, partially offset by higher employee costs. Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 3%. News Media Revenues in the quarter decreased $42 million, or 8%, as compared to the prior year, primarily driven by lower advertising revenues, lower revenues from the transfer of third-party printing revenue contracts to News UK’s joint venture with DMG Media and lower circulation and subscription revenues, in addition to an $11 million, or 2%, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted Revenues for the segment decreased 6% compared to the prior year. Circulation and subscription revenues decreased $10 million, or 3%, compared to the prior year, which included a $7 million, or 2%, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations, primarily driven by lower print volumes, partially offset by cover price increases and higher content licensing at News UK. Advertising revenues decreased $19 million, or 9%, compared to the prior year, which included a $4 million, or 2%, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations, primarily due to lower print advertising revenues across the group and lower digital advertising revenues at News UK, primarily at The Sun. In the quarter, Segment EBITDA increased $6 million, or 22%, compared to the prior year, driven by cost savings initiatives, including lower Talk costs, and the combination of News UK’s printing operations with those of DMG Media, partially offset by the lower revenues discussed above. Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 22%. Digital revenues represented 39% of News Media segment revenues in the quarter, compared to 37% in the prior year, and represented 37% of the combined revenues of the newspaper mastheads. Digital subscribers and users across key properties within the News Media segment are summarized below: Closing digital subscribers at News Corp Australia as of March 31, 2025 were 1,148,000 (981,000 for news mastheads), compared to 1,113,000 (966,000 for news mastheads) in the prior year (Source: Internal data) The Times and Sunday Times closing digital subscribers, including the Times Literary Supplement, as of March 31, 2025 were 629,000, compared to 582,000 in the prior year (Source: Internal data). The Sun’s digital offering reached 74 million global monthly unique users in March 2025, compared to 126 million in the prior year (Source: Meta Pixel) New York Post’s digital network reached 85 million unique users in March 2025, compared to 125 million in the prior year (Source: Google Analytics) CASH FLOW The following table presents a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations to free cash flow: Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations of $789 million for the nine months ended March 31, 2025 was $68 million higher than net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations of $721 million in the prior year, primarily due to higher Total Segment EBITDA, as noted above, partly offset by higher working capital and tax payments. Free cash flow in the nine months ended March 31, 2025 was $539 million compared to $475 million in the prior year. The improvement in free cash flow was primarily due to higher cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations, as mentioned above. Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure. Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing operations less capital expenditures. Free cash flow excludes cash flows from discontinued operations. Free cash flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies, since companies and investors may differ as to what items should be included in the calculation of free cash flow. Free cash flow does not represent the total increase or decrease in the cash balance for the period and should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, the net change in cash and cash equivalents as presented in the Company’s consolidated statements of cash flows prepared in accordance with GAAP, which incorporates all cash movements during the period. The Company believes free cash flow provides useful information to management and investors about the Company’s liquidity and cash flow trends. OTHER ITEMS Foxtel Sale During the second quarter of fiscal 2025, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Foxtel Group (“Foxtel”) to DAZN Group Limited (“DAZN”), a global sports streaming platform. The transaction closed on April 2, 2025. Under the terms of the agreement, amounts outstanding under Foxtel’s shareholder loans with News Corp (A$592 million) were repaid in full in cash at closing. Foxtel’s third-party borrowings transferred with the business, and News Corp received a minority equity interest in DAZN of approximately 6% and holds one seat on its Board of Directors. Telstra Group Ltd also sold its minority interest in Foxtel. The assets and liabilities of Foxtel have been classified as held for sale and the results of operations and cash flows have been classified as discontinued operations for all periods presented as the disposition reflects a strategic shift that has, and will have, a major effect on the Company’s operations and financial results. Furthermore, upon reclassification of Foxtel’s results, the Subscription Video Services segment ceased to be a reportable segment and the residual results of the segment were aggregated into the News Media segment. News Media segment results have been recast to reflect this change for all periods presented. COMPARISON OF NON-GAAP TO U.S. GAAP INFORMATION Adjusted Revenues, Total Segment EBITDA, Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA, Adjusted Segment EBITDA, adjusted net income attributable to News Corporation stockholders, Adjusted EPS, constant currency revenues and free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures contained in this earnings release. The Company believes these measures are important tools for investors and analysts to use in assessing the Company’s underlying business performance and to provide for more meaningful comparisons of the Company’s operating performance between periods. These measures also allow investors and analysts to view the Company’s business from the same perspective as Company management. These non-GAAP measures may be different than similar measures used by other companies and should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, measures of financial performance calculated in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations for the differences between non-GAAP measures used in this earnings release and comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP are included in Notes 1, 2, 3 and 4 and the reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations to free cash flow is included above. Conference call News Corporation’s earnings conference call can be heard live at 5:00 p.m. EDT on May 8, 2025. To listen to the call, please visit http://investors.newscorp.com. Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This document contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding trends and uncertainties affecting the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition, the Company’s strategy and strategic initiatives, including the sale of the Foxtel Group and other potential acquisitions, investments and dispositions, the Company’s cost savings initiatives and the outcome of contingencies such as litigation and investigations. These statements are based on management’s views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance as of the time the statements are made. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to the risks, uncertainties and other factors described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. More detailed information about factors that could affect future results is contained in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The “forward-looking statements” included in this document are made only as of the date of this document and we do not have and do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any “forward-looking statements” to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, and we expressly disclaim any such obligation, except as required by law or regulation. About News Corporation News Corp (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. The company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: information services and news, digital real estate services and book publishing. Headquartered in New York, News Corp operates primarily in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and its content and other products and services are distributed and consumed worldwide. More information is available at: www.newscorp.com. NOTE 1 – TOTAL SEGMENT EBITDA Segment EBITDA is defined as revenues less operating expenses and selling, general and administrative expenses. Segment EBITDA does not include: depreciation and amortization, impairment and restructuring charges, equity losses of affiliates, interest (expense) income, net, other, net, income tax (expense) benefit and net income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax. Management believes that Segment EBITDA is an appropriate measure for evaluating the operating performance of the Company’s business segments because it is the primary measure used by the Company’s chief operating decision maker to evaluate the performance of and allocate resources within the Company’s businesses. Segment EBITDA provides management, investors and equity analysts with a measure to analyze the operating performance of each of the Company’s business segments and its enterprise value against historical data and competitors’ data, although historical results may not be indicative of future results (as operating performance is highly contingent on many factors, including customer tastes and preferences). Total Segment EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure and should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, net income (loss) from continuing operations, cash flow from continuing operations and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. In addition, this measure does not reflect cash available to fund requirements and excludes items, such as depreciation and amortization and impairment and restructuring charges, which are significant components in assessing the Company’s financial performance. The Company believes that the presentation of Total Segment EBITDA provides useful information regarding the Company’s operations and other factors that affect the Company’s reported results. Specifically, the Company believes that by excluding certain one-time or non-cash items such as impairment and restructuring charges and depreciation and amortization, as well as potential distortions between periods caused by factors such as financing and capital structures and changes in tax positions or regimes, the Company provides users of its consolidated financial statements with insight into both its core operations as well as the factors that affect reported results between periods but which the Company believes are not representative of its core business. As a result, users of the Company’s consolidated financial statements are better able to evaluate changes in the core operating results of the Company across different periods. The following tables reconcile net income from continuing operations to Total Segment EBITDA for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024: NOTE 2 – ADJUSTED REVENUES, ADJUSTED TOTAL SEGMENT EBITDA AND ADJUSTED SEGMENT EBITDA The Company uses revenues, Total Segment EBITDA and Segment EBITDA excluding the impact of acquisitions, divestitures, 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”), charges for other significant, non-ordinary course legal or regulatory matters (“litigation charges”) and foreign currency fluctuations (“Adjusted Revenues,” “Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA” and “Adjusted Segment EBITDA,” respectively) to evaluate the performance of the Company’s core business operations exclusive of certain items that impact the comparability of results from period to period such as the unpredictability and volatility of currency fluctuations. The Company calculates the impact of foreign currency fluctuations for businesses reporting in currencies other than the U.S. dollar by multiplying the results for each quarter in the current period by the difference between the average exchange rate for that quarter and the average exchange rate in effect during the corresponding quarter of the prior year and totaling the impact for all quarters in the current period. The calculation of Adjusted Revenues, Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA and Adjusted Segment EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies, since companies and investors may differ as to what type of events warrant adjustment. Adjusted Revenues, Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA and Adjusted Segment EBITDA are not measures of performance under generally accepted accounting principles and should not be construed as substitutes for amounts determined under GAAP as measures of performance. However, management uses these measures in comparing the Company’s historical performance and believes that they provide meaningful and comparable information to investors to assist in their analysis of our performance relative to prior periods and our competitors. The following tables reconcile reported revenues and reported Total Segment EBITDA to Adjusted Revenues and Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024: Foreign Exchange Rates Average foreign exchange rates used in the calculation of the impact of foreign currency fluctuations for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 are as follows: Adjusted Revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA by segment for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 are as follows: The following tables reconcile reported revenues and Segment EBITDA by segment to Adjusted Revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA by segment for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024: NOTE 3 – ADJUSTED NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO NEWS CORPORATION STOCKHOLDERS AND ADJUSTED EPS The Company uses net income (loss) attributable to News Corporation stockholders from continuing operations and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (“EPS”) excluding expenses related to U.K. Newspaper Matters, litigation charges, impairment and restructuring charges and “Other, net”, net of tax, recognized by the Company or its equity method investees, as well as the settlement of certain pre-Separation tax matters (“adjusted net income (loss) attributable to News Corporation stockholders” and “adjusted EPS,” respectively), to evaluate the performance of the Company’s operations exclusive of certain items that impact the comparability of results from period to period, as well as certain non-operational items. The calculation of adjusted net income (loss) attributable to News Corporation stockholders and adjusted EPS may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies, since companies and investors may differ as to what type of events warrant adjustment. Adjusted net income (loss) attributable to News Corporation stockholders and adjusted EPS are not measures of performance under generally accepted accounting principles and should not be construed as substitutes for consolidated net income (loss) attributable to News Corporation stockholders from continuing operations and net income (loss) per share from continuing operations as determined under GAAP as a measure of performance. However, management uses these measures in comparing the Company’s historical performance and believes that they provide meaningful and comparable information to investors to assist in their analysis of our performance relative to prior periods and our competitors. The following tables reconcile reported net income attributable to News Corporation stockholders from continuing operations and reported diluted EPS to adjusted net income attributable to News Corporation stockholders and adjusted EPS for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024: NOTE 4 – CONSTANT CURRENCY REVENUES The Company believes that the presentation of revenues excluding the impact of foreign currency fluctuations (“constant currency revenues”) provides useful information regarding the performance of the Company’s core business operations exclusive of distortions between periods caused by the unpredictability and volatility of currency fluctuations. The Company calculates the impact of foreign currency fluctuations for businesses reporting in currencies other than the U.S. dollar as described in Note 2. Constant currency revenues are not measures of performance under generally accepted accounting principles and should not be construed as substitutes for revenues as determined under GAAP as measures of performance. However, management uses these measures in comparing the Company’s historical performance and believes that they provide meaningful and comparable information to investors to assist in their analysis of our performance relative to prior periods and our competitors. The following tables reconcile reported revenues to constant currency revenues for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2025:

News Corporation Reports Third Quarter Results for Fiscal 2025

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