WSJ, Barron’s parent reports better-than-expected earnings

News Corp., the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, reported better-than-expected first quarter earnings due to growth in its TV network business and real estate listings operation.

The New York-based company reported net income of $101 million, or 17 cents per share, compared to net income of $68 million, or 12 cents per share.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 4 cents per share. Revenue of $2.52 billion in the first quarter was slightly below analyst estimates.

In the news and information division, which includes The Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch.com, revenue rose 1 percent to $1.25 billion.

Circulation and subscription revenues increased 2 percent, including a $10 million, or 1 percent, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations. The growth was primarily due to a healthy contribution from Dow Jones, which saw a 7 percent increase in its circulation revenues, reflecting continued digital subscriber growth at The Journal.

Nearly 65 percent of The Journal’s subscribers are digital only.

The Journal’s average daily digital subscribers in the three months ended Sept. 30, were 1.58 million, compared to 1.32 million in the prior year.

The full earnings release can be found here.