Dow Jones reports highest profit since News Corp acquired it

Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch.com, Barron’s and Investor’s Business Daily, reported a fourth-quarter profit of $133 million, a 25% increase from the same quarter a year ago and its best quarterly performance since it was acquired by News Corp. in 2007.

Revenue for the quarter was $546 million, down 3%.

Digital revenues at Dow Jones in the quarter represented 79% of total revenues compared to 76% in the prior year.

Excluding the absence of the benefit from the additional week in prior year, circulation revenues would have improved 1% compared to the prior year. Digital circulation revenues accounted for 70% of circulation revenues for the quarter, compared to 68% in the prior year.

During the fourth quarter, total average subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products reached over 5.2 million, a 7% increase compared to the prior year. Digital-only subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products grew 12%.

Total subscriptions to The Journal grew 6% compared to the prior year, to over 3.9 million average subscriptions in the quarter. Digital-only subscriptions to The Journal grew 10% to 3.4 million average subscriptions in the quarter, and represented 86% of total Journal subscriptions.

The full News Corp. earnings release can be found here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.