Fox profit beats estimates as lower costs help offset ad revenue weakness

(Reuters) - Fox Corp beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Wednesday, due to lower expenses, even as its revenue tumbled more than 15% on weakness in its advertising business.

The media company benefited from a near 25% fall in operating expenses in the quarter. That helped it report an adjusted profit of $1.09 per share, compared with LSEG estimates of 96 cents.

Shares of the company behind the Fox sports network and Fox News were up 1.3% in early trading.

Fox also posted a net income of $666 million, compared with a loss of $54 million a year earlier, thanks to the absence of charges tied to its settlement last year with Dominion Voting Systems.

The company's ad revenue fell by more than a third in the first three months of the year as Fox grappled with the lack of a Super Bowl broadcast and fewer National Football League games.

Media companies have seen a decline in ad dollars in the past year as an uncertain economic environment pressured spending at marketers.

Fox reported total revenue of $3.45 billion for the period, compared with $4.08 billion a year earlier. The figure was in line with estimates.

As part of its efforts to grow business, Fox in February agreed to form a sports-streaming joint venture with Walt Disney and Warner Bros Discovery.

The venture is expected to have 5 million subscribers in the first five years, Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch has said.

(Reporting by Priyanka.G in Bengaluru)