News Corp posts third quarter revenue fall as profits were hit by one-off charge and continuing lower advertising sales
Global media behemoth News Corp posted a revenue fall in its third quarter results on Thursday, as profits were hit by a one-off charge and low print advertising sales continued to decline.
The figures
The owner of The Sun, The Times and the Wall Street Journal said its revenues had declined 7.3 per cent to $1.89bn (£1.3bn) in the quarter ended March 31.
This compares to $2bn of revenues in the same quarter last year and represented the fifth consecutive drop in quarterly revenues as print advertising sales declined.
The company said "currency fluctuations" and a one-off payment of $280m to resolve a legal challenge at its News America Marketing business also hit profits.
News Corp registered a net loss available to shareholders of $149m, around 26 cents per share.
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Why it's interesting
Revenues at the company's book publishing business, which includes HarperCollins Publishers also fell this quarter, by around 11 per cent.
The company has relied on its digital real estate business to bolster revenues as the news division has faced challenges over print advertising in multiple recent quarters.
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The company was also rumoured to be interested in buying social network Twitter in January, though the company was quick to shoot down the claims.
What News Corp said
Chief executive Robert Thompson said:
The third quarter results were materially affected by a $280m pre-tax charge at News America Marketing to resolve a legacy lawsuit and related claims, and continued currency headwinds, which impacted revenues by $72m and EBITDA by $9m.
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