LOS ANGELES — Media conglomerate News Corp. said Wednesday its net income for the latest quarter grew despite analysts' expectations of a decline, thanks to strength at its cable networks and the box-office success of "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs."
The company is facing multiple challenges, including an advertising downturn and the shift of readers to the Internet. Newspaper and TV station earnings fell but they were more than offset by cost-cutting and gains elsewhere.
Net income for the company's fiscal first quarter, which ended Sept. 30, increased 11 percent to $571 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with $515 million, or 20 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting a drop to 18 cents per share.
Revenue fell 4 percent to $7.2 billion, in line with estimates.
Chief Executive and lead shareholder Rupert Murdoch called the results "exceptionally strong" and said the company's businesses were improving.
"The economies in which we do business are clearly in better shape than they were a year ago,"