Dow Jones reports rise in revenue, profits

Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, reported a 3% increase in revenue and a 7% increase in profits in the second quarter due to gains in subscription revenue.

The company reported revenue of $600 million, up $16 million, and operating income of $174 million, up $11 million.

Dow Jones is owned by News Corp., whose earnings releases break out its performance. Dow Jones also owns Barron’s, MarketWatch.com, and Investor’s Business Daily. It now has 5.9 million subscribers, up 9% compared to the earlier year, with 4.2 million of those coming from The Journal.

Circulation and subscription revenues increased $20 million, or 5%, reflecting a 4% increase in professional information business revenues, led by 11% growth in Risk & Compliance revenues to $80 million and 10% growth in Dow Jones Energy revenues to $68 million, partially offset by lower Factiva revenues primarily due to an ongoing customer dispute.

Digital-only subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products grew 13% to over 5.3 million. Total subscriptions to The Journal grew 4% compared to the prior year, to over 4.2 million average subscriptions in the quarter.

Digital-only subscriptions to The Journal grew 7% to nearly 3.8 million average subscriptions in the quarter, and represented 90% of total Wall Street Journal subscriptions.

Advertising revenues decreased $5 million, or 4%, due to a 10% decline in print advertising revenues, as digital advertising revenues were flat. Digital advertising accounted for 64% of total advertising revenues in the quarter, compared to 62% in the prior year.

The full earnings release is here.