Meredith Corp. today reported improved financial results for its first fiscal quarter of 2021. For the three months ended Sept. 30, net earnings were $42.3 million, up from $6.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Total adjusted earnings from continuing operations before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and special items (EBITDA) was $143.2 million, compared with $122.4 million in first quarter 2020. The 17% increase was due primarily to digital advertising and political revenue growth, the Des Moines-based multimedia company said in an earnings release. “We are off to an encouraging start to fiscal 2021, with 15% growth in national digital advertising to a record high, and a 43% increase in local political spot advertising from the prior cycle two years ago,” Meredith President and CEO Tom Harty said. “While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact total company revenues, sequentially our year-over-year performance has continued to recover. Our efforts to enhance financial flexibility and control costs have produced tangible results as demonstrated by our growth in operating profit and free cash flow. We anticipate these improvements will continue benefiting shareholders as macroeconomic conditions continue to improve and enable us to more meaningfully shift our focus to deleveraging and other long-term initiatives.”