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News Corporation (NWS) reported an 11% increase in first quarter net profit to US$571 million versus the previous corresponding period. The media company said first quarter consolidated operating income increased 9% in the same period to US$1.04 billion.

News Corp said the increase in profit was largely driven by higher operating profit and equity contributions from affiliates due to the absence of a US$422 million write-down of the company’s investment in Sky Deutschland AG taken during the prior year period.

In regards to the increase to operating income, the company said it reflected double-digit percentage profit increases at the Filmed Entertainment, Cable Network Programming and Book Publishing segments.

Both results were partially offset by decreases elsewhere.

Chairman and CEO, Rupert Murdoch, said the gains at the company’s worldwide cable network programming businesses and renewed momentum at our Filmed Entertainment segment reflected strong slate of films at the global box office.

“The strategic steps we took last year to ensure stability during the downturn have proven successful, with significant cost reductions offsetting much of the revenue declines in our Television and Newspapers and Information Services segments,” Mr Murdoch said.

“The economies in which we do business are clearly in better shape than they were a year ago, and we have further positioned our operations to take advantage of the improvements we are seeing globally.”

At the close of trade yesterday, New Corp shares were trading at $15.15.

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