Meredith Corp., the publisher of Better Homes and Gardens magazine and owner of 11 television stations, said its fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell because of a change in accounting rules, though revenues rose.

Net income for the quarter ended June 30 fell 47 percent to $29.8 million, or 58 cents per share, from $56.1 million, or $1.10 per share, a year ago. Revenues for the period climbed 12 percent to $300.2 million from $267.2 million.

The company’s biggest magazines, Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies’ Home Journal, continued to outpace their rivals in advertising sales. In addition, Meredith’s television stations are winning more viewers and the company is entering into more partnerships to extend its brands and boost sales of books and other products. Those moves have helped the company weather the worst downturn in the advertising industry since World War II.

“In the face of a still uncertain economy, we outperformed most of our peers,” said William Kerr, Meredith’s chairman and chief executive. “Our management teams are deeper and stronger than they have ever been before.”

Excluding a non-operating charge in the most recent quarter of $800,000, or 2 cents per share, profits would have been $30.6 million, or 60 cents. On that basis, analysts polled by Reuters Research had expected the company to earn 58 cents per share.

The company’s shares have risen about 25 percent in the past year.

A year ago, Meredith had gains on some investments and on the exchange of two television stations in Florida for a third in Portland, Ore. It also had some charges resulting from the write-down of broadcast film rights and other investments. Excluding these items, profits in the period a year ago would have been $24.3 million, or 47 cents.

In the publishing division, which accounts for about three-quarters of Meredith’s revenues, the number of advertising pages at Better Homes and Gardens rose by 11 percent while advertising pages at Ladies’ Home Journal climbed 33 percent.

The company entered into an alliance with Home Interiors and Gifts, a marketer of home decor products, under which Home Interiors will sell products under the Better Homes and Gardens Collection name.

Meredith’s mid-sized titles, including Midwest Living and More magazines, are also growing. The circulation of Midwest Living, which focuses on travel and entertainment in the Midwest, has risen to 850,000 from 815,000.

Meredith executives expect the circulation at More magazine, which targets older women, to top 1 million in 2005, up from 850,000 today. Of magazines started in the past 10 years, 22 have reached the 1 million mark, according to Steve Lacy, the president of Meredith’s publishing division.

The company is building on its relationship with Home Depot Inc. planning a home owner’s guide that will be delivered to new homeowners alongside telephone books, Lacy said.      The company is also planning to publish six magazines in the next fiscal year for Publix Super Markets, a grocery chain with 768 supermarkets Southeast. In a partnership with J.C. Penney Co., editors from Better Homes and Gardens will offer decorating advice at some stores using furnishings sold by the retailer.

Meredith’s book division plans this month to begin selling the second and third books in a series based on the popular “Trading Spaces” home decorating television show. The company said it has commitments from customers to buy 300,000 copies each of those books, “Trading Spaces: Make It Yours” and “Trading Spaces: Color.”

In a bid to cut costs, Meredith has been encouraging customers to renew or place orders for new subscriptions to its magazines online and said 1.5 million subscriptions were handled via the Internet.

In the broadcasting group, most of Meredith’s television stations gained in market share, including those in Atlanta, Phoenix and Hartford. In Portland, where the company owns two stations, Meredith is concentrating on eliminating overlapping positions to cut costs. It eliminated 75 jobs, said Kevin O’Brien, who runs the broadcasting division.

With governmental rules regarding media ownership changing, O’Brien said Meredith was not interested in purchasing any newspapers but that it is considering starting a news-oriented radio station in a market where it owns a television station.

“Our primary focus remains improving the performance of our existing station group,” O’Brien said. “We like duopolies. We believe the opportunity to form more duopolies is better in our mid-tier markets.”

The division has also begun a partnership with Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca. Under the June agreement, Meredith will market and manage television commercial spots on the Azteca America affiliate in Las Vegas.      The move gives Meredith a further presence in the growing Latino market, which it first entered last year when it purchased American Baby Group, which publishes several Spanish-language titles.