Q3 revenues grew by 5.5% at McGraw-Hill Companies to $1.98 billion, topping Wall Street expectations – as did a 15% increase in quarterly earnings to $1.23 per share. The growth was driven by the company’s larger operations, but the small television did its part, with double-digit growth.
Broadcasting Group revenues were up 23.5% to $23.6 million. The company reported growth not only in political ad revenues, but also in national and local. KMGH-TV (ABC) Denver was noted to be attracting “significant ad dollars” for Colorado’s contest for governor, a heated Senate race and issue-related advertising.
For the entire Information & Media division, which is considerable smaller following the divestiture of BusinessWeek, revenues were up 5.1% (excluding BW) to $227.8 million in Q3. The unit’s operating profit, though, ballooned by 55.1% to $45.8 million.
Looking ahead, full year revenues for Information & Media (excluding BW) are expected to be up by a mid-single digit percentage. That will contribute, albeit in a small way, to improving performance for the entire company.
“In view of our strong performance for the first nine months of 2010, we are increasing guidance for the year,” said CEO Terry McGraw. “We now anticipate earnings per share in the $2.60 to $2.65 range and expect to achieve the high end of that range. The new guidance excludes two cents of one-time gains from divestitures, but includes dilution of two cents from acquisitions.”
