New York, Nov 06: Global media conglomerate News Corp. Ltd. on Wednesday said its first-quarter profit more than doubled on strong DVD movie sales of "Daredevil" and "Phone Booth" as well as advertising gains at its Fox News Channel. The Sydney, Australia-based owner of the New York Post, 20th Century Fox studios and Gemstar-TV Guide posted a net profit of $422 million, or 32 cents per American depositary receipts, compared with $162 million, or 12 cents, a year ago.

Excluding gain a $36 million gain from sales of SkyPerfecTV! shares, it posted profit of $386 million, or 29 cents per share.
Revenue improved 22 per cent, to $4.6 billion from $3.8 billion in the year-earlier period.

Operating income, a closely tracked performance indicator for media companies, rose 31 per cent, to $719 million from $548 million a year earlier.
The company said gains were attributed to a three-fold operating income gain from its filmed entertainment unit and a double-digit increase from its cable properties, it said in a statement. Bureau Report