News Corp reports third quarter profit slump
Company blamed downturn on a $125m (£75m) litigation settlement charge in its integrated marketing services business
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Operating income within News Corporation's publishing division was down by $207 million (£125 million) in the third quarter year-on-year, the media company reported this week.
According to the latest figures News Corp , which owns the Times newspapers, the Sun and the News of the World in the UK, recorded operating income for publishing of $36 million for the three month period ending 31 March, compared with $243 million for the same period last year.
The company said the decrease reflected a $125 million litigation settlement charge at the company's integrated marketing services business.
The decrease was also driven by other factors such as advertising revenue declines at its Australian and UK newspapers, it added in a release, as well as the cost of launching its new iPad newspaper the Daily in February. News Corp lost around $10 million on the Daily in the quarter due to startup costs, according to deputy chairman Chase Carey.
"It's very early days, but we are making progress," said Carey.
Overall News Corp reported operating income of $1.06 billion compared with $1.25 billion a year ago.
"As we anticipated, News Corporation's third quarter financial results faced challenging comparisons when set against last year's record Avatar contribution at our Filmed Entertainment business," chairman and chief executive officer Rupert Murdoch said in a statement. "However, the great response to Rio and our confidence in our upcoming releases, indicate that the difficult comparisons in this segment over the past nine months are now behind us.
"Looking beyond our film business, I am delighted with the continued and significant operational momentum of our channels businesses, with their market-leading positions across the globe."
