Publishing giant News Corp sees its full year results show a 2 per cent dip in its revenue from $10.5bn last year to $10.3bn, which the company says reflects lower print advertising revenues at the news and information services segment.
News Corp also says the decline was effected due to a $187m negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations and the absence of $142m from the additional week in the prior year, partially offset by strong growth in the digital real estate services segment and acquisitions of the Wireless Group.
The loss from continuing operations was $817m compared to $298m in the prior year. The loss includes approximately $1bn of pre-tax non-cash impairments and write-downs and a one-time pre-tax gain of $135m as a results of the sale of REA Group’s European business.
Its total segment EBITDA was $1.bn, a 29 per cent increase from $869m in the prior year, 37 per cent of the total segment was represented by its real estate services segments. Digital revenues represented 25 per cent of news and information services segment revenues, compared to 22 per cent in the prior year.
[Related: News blames print ads for losses]
Robert Thomson, CEO, Newscorp says, “Fiscal 2017 was a significant year for News Corp as we saw tangible improvement in profitability, powered by the fast-growing digital real estate services segment, and we charged a premium for premium content while focusing on operating efficiencies.
“News Corp lead the global debate about content value and values, prompting the digital platforms to address a dysfunctional content eco-system, in which fake and the fraudulent have flourished. We are now in advanced discussions with those platforms over the creation of payment mechanisms for news of verified veracity.”
Its fourth quarter results show a 7 per cent decline in revenue from $2.83bn to $2.64bn, this was due to a $142m impact from the additional week in the prior year quarter, lower print advertising revenues at the news and information services segment and a $47m negative impact from foreign currency fluctuation.
For its news and information services segment, revenue declined 5 per cent by $342m from $1.8bn in the prior year to $1.65bn. Its advertising revenues declined $257m by 7 per cent to $3.3bn, which News Corp says reflect weakness in the print advertising marketing. Circulation and subscription revenues declined $123m or 5 per cent to $2.55bn due to the absence of the additional week from the prior year and foreign currency fluctuations.
For its book publishing segment, it reported a 1 per cent dip by $12.7m compared to the prior year, as News Corp says strong sales of both frontlist and backlist titles, such as Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance as well as the global expansion of the HarperCollins global footprint.
Thomson says, “HarperCollins posted high EBITDA and margins this year through poignant books with broad appeal in the US such as The Magnolia Story and Hillbilly Elegy. We believe that the emergence of digital audio and our expanding global footprint are potent sources of long-term growth.
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