News Corporation Doubles Quarterly Profits

Strong growth in News Corporation (NasdaqGS: NWS - news) 's cable networks helped it double net income in the second fiscal quarter of 2012 over the previous year.

The media conglomerate, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, reported earnings on Wednesday night for the quarter that ended December 31 and confirmed that costs arising from the closure of the News of the World amid the hacking scandal fell to $56m (£35.7m) in the period.

News Corp, which includes Fox Broadcasting, The Wall Street Journal and a 39% stake in Sky News parent firm BSkyB (LSE: BSY.L - news) , said its overall revenue rose 5% last quarter to $9.43bn (£6.02bn) - above analysts' expectations of $9.28bn (£5.93bn).

Profits reached $2.38bn (£1.52bn), or $1.01 per share. That compares with a net income of $1.06bn (£680m), or $0.42 per share, in the same quarter of 2011.

Earnings per share came in slightly ahead of analysts' projections at $0.44 per share, factoring in one-time costs related to the UK hacking scandal.

Mr Murdoch said the earnings report reflected the company's "strong momentum".

"The strategies we executed against in the quarter continue to bolster News Corporation's competitive position and enhance our ability to benefit from global demand for content, especially sports programming," he said.

The division that operates the company's newspapers and book publishing reported operating income rose to $234m (£149m) from $218m (£139m) in the same period a year ago.

Its cable network division saw revenue jump 18% year-over-year to $945m (£604m).

News Corp is in the process of splitting its publishing and entertainment operations into two separate, publicly-traded companies.