News profit up on 3D
May 6, 2010
News Corp sales and operating income got a big boost in the quarter to March 31, thanks to blockbuster movie Avatar. News Corp. reported that filmed entertainment operating income rose 76 per cent, to $497 million, thanks to the highest grossing film of all time.
Total revenue at parent group News Corporation was $8.8 billion during the first three months of this year, up $1.4 billion and 19 per cent when compared with the same period in 2009. Operating income was $1.25 billion, a 55 per cent increase year on year, and net income of $861 million, down 69 per cent year on year.
The Newspapers and Information Services division, of which News International is a large part, had an operating income of $131m in the first three months of this year, up from $102 million in the same period of 2009.
News Corp’s share of UK pay TV broadcaster BSkyB’s earnings (it owns 39 per cent of Sky), during the first three months of 2010 was $176 million, up from losses of $7 million in the first three months of 2009.