After a year-long slump that resulted in a net loss of $1.26 billion for the fiscal year 2020, News Corp has found its footing once again. Due to book publishing and digital real estate services growth, the company’s fourth-quarter revenue rebounded 30 percent year over year to $2.49 billion.
The net losses declined 96.3 percent from $401 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 to $15 million in Q4 2021. The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) increased 8 percent year over year to $210 million.
The media conglomerate’s digital real estate services, which include realtor.com parent company Move and Australia-based REA Group, continued to be a main driver of success during Q4 and FY 2021 with revenue increases of 74 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
During Q4, Move and REA Group raked in $413 million. Move’s revenue rose 68 percent annually to $186 million thanks to continued growth with realtor.com’s referral services and lead generation products. Realtor.com’s traffic remained robust, with the site’s average monthly unique users growing 32 percent year over year in Q4 to 106 million.
“The traditional lead generation product continued to see a strong increase in demand from agents, driving improvements in sell-through, yield and retention,” the earnings report read. “The referral model, which generated approximately 30 percent of total Move revenues, benefited from increases in average home values, transaction volume and referral fees.”
For the full year, News Corp’s digital real estate services earned $1.39 billion. Move’s revenue increased 36 percent to $641 million, primarily due to the boom in buyer demand. The termination of Move’s customer billing relief program also contributed to the revenue boost, the company explained.
Robert Thomson
News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson called the company’s overall performance the best “since we created the new News Corp in 2013” and thanked employees for their patience during the coronavirus-induced slump.
“I want to express my sincere gratitude to the employees of News Corp, who have navigated these trying times with professionalism and with principle,” said in a written statement on Thursday. “Their efforts, their creativity and their commitment have built on the Company’s proud foundations and been a catalyst for these particularly impressive results.”
For the full year, News Corp’s revenues increased 4 percent to $9.36 billion. The company also become profitable again, surging from a $1.55 billion net loss in 2020 to a $389 million net income in 2021.
The company (Nasdaq: NWS) experienced a small post-earnings boost on the stock market, with the price per share increasing $0.10 to an opening price of $23.89 on Friday. At the height of the pandemic, News Corp’s stock had tanked to $12.68 per share.
The company’s market cap stands at $14.47 billion.
