News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) reported second-quarter fiscal 2014 results before markets opened on Thursday. The print publishing giant posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.31 on revenue of $2.24 billion. In the same period a year ago the company reported EPS of $0.31 on $2.32 billion in revenues. Thomson Reuters had consensus estimates for EPS of $0.20 and revenue of $2.23 billion.

Company chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said:

The earnings report demonstrates a measure of progress as we navigate a challenging advertising market. We are continuing to be disciplined on costs, while making opportunistic investments that will extend our revenue reach. … Digital subscriptions and website traffic are on the rise at most of our sites, and revenue at REA, the online real estate company, continues to expand encouragingly.

News Corp. noted that excluding the costs of defending its U.K. paper News of the World against phone hacking charges and certain other one-time items, the company’s EBITDA would have been 1% lower compared with the second quarter a year ago.

The year-over-year decline in revenues was almost entirely due to a drop in advertising in the company’s news and information services segment. Advertising revenues fell 10% due to currency exchange impacts and the absence of an asset that was sold. Circulation and subscription revenues were down 7%.

Since its separation from Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA) last July, News Corp.’s share price is up about 5% and 21st Century Fox’s share price is up about 8%.

News Corp.’’s shares are trading up about 4.2% in after-hours trading, at $16.70. The stock’s 52-week range is $14.39 to $18.17. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of $17.90 before today’s earnings report.

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