NWSA
#Thank you, Mike
In the third quarter, we saw positive results in our ongoing mission to become increasingly global, digital and diversified to be resolutely cost conscious and to deliver enhanced results for our shareholders
There was robust growth in revenues and EBITDA, specifically a 5% rise in revenues to approximately $2 billion and total segment EBITDA of $215 million compared to a loss of a $122 million in the prior year, which included the News America Marketing settlement charge
Excluding that charge, total segment EBITDA in the quarter would have increased 36% compared to the prior year
We are pleased with the performance of many of our businesses, including at our digital real estate services segment, which continues to fly
We had indicated that the EBITDA contribution at Move would improve and that revenue growth would accelerate and I am pleased to report both goals have been achieved this quarter, though we will certainly not allow our compliance field smugness to be characteristics at realtor
com
While print advertising remains challenging, we saw some moderation and declines across mastheads this quarter
And notably the news and information services segment was a sort of growth this quarter, both in revenues and EBITDA, driven by the muscular performance of installed product revenues in News America Marketing, healthy circulation revenue gains at the Wall Street Journal and a thoughtful cost production program
Speaking of the Wall Street Journal, we continue to build on the momentum of digital styles, adding more than 300,000 subscribers year-over-year
Digital now accounts for 53% of total subscription, up from 44% last year and 38% two years ago
In fact we added even more subs this quarter than in the second quarter, suggesting that the appetite for premium news and thoughtful commentary is undiminished
This success also as a result of innovation with our payroll including the elimination of Google so called First Quick Free Scheme [ph], which is in need of serious scrutiny as it punishes premium news
But whiners are not winners, so I am pleased to report, we are making progress on our development of a new digital advertising platform, focused initially on the U.S
market using the data, content and audiences of our businesses to ensure brands have real rich and are not subject to guilt by association
This initiative follows our news connect offering in Australia and we will provide more information about the emerging platform in coming months
We have been among the strongest and most consistent voices in making clear that the digital duopoly has commoditized content and had created an ecosystem that is dysfunctional and defiled
The consequences of commodification include fake news, ramping piracy and brands just oppose we joined us on extremist websites
The current content configuration is detrimental to consumers, the businesses and to societies
We are in discussion with Facebook and Google about premium content and brand enhancing environment and hope that will assist in fashioning a healthier eco system that rewards created in content and not just the distributors, the parts and the perfidious
At this stage, it is fair to say, that Facebook is more responsive and responsible
That we will highlight these issues until there is meaningful movement
Let us turn to our businesses in more detail
At Move, home to realtor
com reported revenues increased by 15% in the quarter, accelerating from fiscal Q2 levels
Excluding the $4 million from TigerLead which we sold in November, growth was 20% and the company contributed segment EBITDA growth consistent with our expectations
Average monthly unique increased from $44 million in Q2 to $55 million for the quarter, including a monthly record of $58 million in March
And we saw improvements in pace penetration and audience engagement, both crucial for Lead volume which also improved in the quarter
Overall according to CUNY School in March realtor
com led by Zillow and Trulia an engagement by 30% based on minutes spend and has continue to gain share in this sector
The new advantage product launched in December is performing in line with expectations and we saw acceleration in growth in the connections for buyer's product, driven by higher lead volume and increased customer flow
We continue to fortify realtor
com, with products like Sciencenab, Streetpeak and enhanced 3D listings which will move from better to full release in the coming months
We added photography in local data to off market listings, which helps driving engagement and we focused on the speed and reliability of our products to ensure an optimum experience for users
Looking ahead, Move is expecting to make further developments in the software and services business an essential element of that crucial relationship with the community of Realtors, less central to real estate transactions
REA, which completed the sale with European businesses in December 2016, posted strong revenue and expanded EBITDA contribution in its core Australian business, driven by product mix and the adoption of premium product
REA achieved record business in March and materially outperformed the competition
The company provides a deeper content experience complementing our masters in Australia and has strengthened its premium product offerings, launching front page, allowing Windows to showcase properties on the home page based on a user's previous search behavior
At News and Information services, revenues grew almost 3% and segment EBITDA excluding the settlement charge at News America marketing in the prior year would have expanded more than 30%
As mentioned the decline in print advertising moderated while we implemented cost reduction programs such as the Wall Street Journal 2020 initiative, which is designed to reduce expenses plus imperatively drives a contemporary flow of content for readers and clients
We are clearly cost conscious but intend to bolster the quality of our unique content across our mastheads and the cross platforms around the world
At Dow Jones, ad revenue trends improved relative to prior quarter, meanwhile the risk in compliance business remains particularly healthy with revenue growth over 20% and prospect certainly appearing positive the real and compliance is essential
As mentioned there was robust digital subscriber growth at the Journal, with more than 30% increase versus the prior year and the momentum has continued
In fact, not only did we have the 300,000 year-over-year increase plus this also set a record in digital subscriber growth since the launch of our sales and subscriber reporting metric
Overall circulation revenues expanded at a mid-single-digit rate
The New York Post digital network continues to make headway and digital now accounts for more than 50% of its ad revenues
We are also pleased to report last month the [Indiscernible] TV has been adopted in a 185 markets covering 90% of the country in advance of its launch this fall
That fall is well for the program and the brand
In the UK at the time standard print circulation volumes grew high single-digits and market share improved once again
In digital the Times and the Sunday Times continue to grow subs and ARPU while in print, the Times had the largest year-on-year growth among pay for national papers in the quarter
At the Sun, the number of monthly unique visitor's version reaching 80 million globally in March, doubling over the past year and up 5 folds since the pay rule we removed in late 2015. The Sun has already surpassed the mirror as the second most reviewed website in the UK and is working closely with talkSPORT to drive incremental traffic and revenues
Times for the UK economy remain positive despite the fee among during the ahead of the Brexit vote and regardless of the inevitable uncertainty caused by the upcoming election
Conditions from our mastheads in Australia remain challenging although print ad declines moderated and circulation revenues were relatively stable
Thanks to a lift in digital subscribers and the price increases
Our team in Australia is focused on digital subscriptions, which general 27% growth year-over-year, including ARM to more than 330,000. Meanwhile news
com today retained its ranking as a preeminent news site in Australia
News American market saw marked growth in the in-store business which is benefiting from product enhancements and an increase in new CPG campaigns
The goods companies and the retail as they are increasingly recognizing NAMs, prowess at the point of purchase
Checkout 51 also grew in the quarter and now has $13.4 million U.S
and Canadian members more than double the total of last year
It is become a key part of NAMs integrated digital offering
In fact, Checkout 51 along with Storyful and realtor
com are working closely with NAM on joint sales pitches with major brands to better leverage data and drive incremental revenue
The News and Information Services segment also benefited from the acquisition of Wireless Group in UK and the Australian regional media business both of which contributed revenues in the quarter
Storyful and Unruly continue to expand their collaboration and are working more closely than ever with many of our businesses
Storyful recently announce the new partnership with Weber Shandwick, illustrating how it has expanded its work
There were six companies, the concerns are the brand safety and furnish vital intelligence on issues related to risk and compliance
In book publishing, there was solid revenue growth at HarperCollins, which saw improvement in digital and enduring success of Hillbilly Elegy and Hidden Figures
We also had the release of Veronica Roth's Carve the Mark
We are looking forward with much anticipation the release of new books by <UNK> Curtin [ph] and David Williams in May and note the continuing strength of HarperCollins Christian based industrial
We are confident that the international footprint we acquire through Harlequin combined with our Evangelical expertise should lead to increase business in Latin America where the Evangelical movement is particularly influential
At Fox Sports, advertising remain strong compared to a relatively substitute TV marketplace in Australia
Riding a 6% higher in March of the year, thanks impart that the successful launch of the Fox League channel, it's dedicated Rugby League offering
Fox Sports also launched the first overseas over the top partnership with IFO, the people around the world can watch the world's most captivating context sports
At our 50% earned Foxtel, the company continues to invest in top tier sports and local content
Further differentiating it's unique package from lower quality of players, Foxtel Play, will have an upgraded user interface and additional HD options, as Foxtel seeks to provide a compelling offering for customers
Having acquired the popular Sky News, we have added to our portfolio of cable networks in Australia and we'll be able to consolidated cost and share digital and video learning's across our platforms
We have just announced the transfer of Fox Sports News to Sky News which will allow us to maximize synergies and scale
Looking once again at the quarters a whole, we see the enduring value of that content
The power of our platform, the benefits of [indiscernible] cost of strange and the manifold ways our businesses are combining and complementing each other and crucially driving long-term value for all of our investors
Governmentally, we were pleased to announce the addition of former U.S
senator, Kelly Ayotte to our board
Following the departure of Elaine Chao, who became the U.S
secretary of transportation, in the new administration
We wish her well in her profound the important role
And I was finally like to say a word of thanks to the new CFO first CFO, the vulnerable Bedi Singh
He did much to assist in launching the company and I'm very proud and delighted to introduce our new CFO <UNK> <UNK>, a long-time colleague at news school
<UNK> brings to this important task a savvy strategic sensibility and a rigorous attention to both detail and the larger landscape
She has experience in both the UK and Australia, as well as insight in the importance of digital transformation of the news and property businesses
For these reasons and more I have great confidence not on in her but in the prospects for this business and its value for our shareholders
Thank you for your support and so please welcome <UNK>
Yeah thanks very much <UNK>
<UNK> I think what we are seeing, is what we hope to see which is a real complementarity in the offering of the two
You've seen talkSPORT drive way to the Sun and the Sun drive business to talkSPORT
We're also seeing portfolio at pitches with the Wireless Group, the Sun, Storyful, Unruly, generating new business and obviously it's the early stage of the new partnership in UK
But Rebekah Brooks and the team are doing an excellent job in ensuring that the teams are talking to each other, working with each other and generating returns to shareholders
<UNK>, we are standing in the middle of an interesting cycle, there is no doubt, a premium unpremium news and we are seeing that in the continuing growth in paid digital subs, the Wall Street Journal up 34% year-on-year
And for us there is an added benefit, which is we obviously see those news subscribers as a potential pool of our customers for an upsell to even more premium products, whether it be through to a high network individuals, semi-professional fund managers or those who are specialist like yourself in finance take commodities FX, whatever
So for us there is a double benefit, we are introducing a new generation of readers into the highest quality paid content and we are able to than bring them further into due diligence hold with our traditional professional information business products
Thanks <UNK> and thanks for passing on the question <UNK>
It's a very silent one, it's a situation we constantly has under review as you know, we have a semi-annual dividend in place, the big buybacks up to around $71 million of provision for buybacks of $500 million
But we've divided, look really into three areas, opportunistic acquisitions, internal investment and capital
And if you look at the three main investments we have made which is realtor
com via Move, Harlequin and Wireless Group, you would have to agree that they played a crucial role in transforming our business
There is no doubt that if you noted out the $600 million we invested in Realtor has fundamentally transform the company and as you can see given the increasing growth in both revenue and EBITDA that I will say digital businesses in general and the ability that Harlequin has given HarperCollins, to move from one language to 17 languages is quite profound and that has also increased our digital footprint
And you can see the early signs in UK of the value of the Wireless Group
So we will continue to be opportunistic that we will continue to have the situation under review
Ray the contribution to EBITDA growth was $22 million for the quarter, where we continue to expect EBITDA growth and revenue growth in Q4 without giving a detailed forecast
What we're seeing is that the traditional products like Co-Broke, which is up 34% year-on-year doing well, the newer products are also taking off, as well as our experience in advertising and in traditional media is enabling us to get better quality yields at Move
So there was a 33% growth in non-listing media revenues
So all-in-all that ability that we have to learn from our experience at REA, our ability to generate audience through marketed platforms, which gives us a marketing edge and our ability to create a site, that's not just a listing side for Realtor's and vendors but also a site that is holistic real estate experience with more news, more analysis than any other means that we certainly have a comparative advantage going forward
We don't speculate on speculation
All I would say on the subject of media reform, is that really we do need comprehensive holistic wholesale media reform in Australia
We have a set of loads that are more for the Goldenberg [ph] era than the Zuckerberg era and as long as there is wholesale reform, we'll be supported by them
I think, it's a very good question and it's one that was spending a lot of time and energy across our market looking at our ability to increase yields as we identify reader demographics and that's obviously at the very heart of the new advertising platform that we're building here in the US
We know that across the U.S
monthly we on our sites including Realtor, we have around 220 million visitors combined with our newspaper mastered audiences that is a valuable source of audience for advertisers and we're doing our very best to monetize it in a way that make sense to advertisers, increasingly find themselves on third-party networks unable to be sure the company that they're keeping
