Dow Jones, which soon could be bought by News Corp. for $5 billion, said one-time charges lowered quarterly profit, while its digital business pushed up revenue despite lower ad sales at its flagship Wall Street Journal.
Second-quarter profit fell to $21 million, or 25 cents a share, from $28.8 million, or 34 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding special items, Dow Jones earned 45 cents per share, compared with 39 cents per share last year. They included a 13 cent per share charge for tock-based compensation expense related to the News Corp. offer, as well as a 7 cent per share restructuring charge.
Revenue rose 16.2% to $529.7 million.
The results come two days after Dow Jones's board endorsed a $60 per share buyout offer from News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch.
The decision rests with the Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones through its voting shares. Family members plan to meet in Boston on Monday to examine the proposed deal.
Some members of the family oppose the bid because they fear Murdoch might use his control of the Journal and Dow Jones's other news operations to further his business interests.
Meanwhile, the Journal continued to struggle with a slowdown in ad sales that is affecting other U.S. newspapers.
Ad revenue at the U.S. print edition of the Journal fell 6.8%, while ad revenue rose at Barron's, Dow Jones's weekly investor newspaper, as well as at The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.
Reuters Group competes with Dow Jones in providing financial news.