Print stings News Corp earnings

The newspaper industry is the thorn in News Corp’s side after its global earnings were pushed down 28 per cent by print publishing, despite best efforts to revive the declining sector.

News Corp booked US$684m for its total fourth quarter global earnings, a 28 per cent plunge compared to US$945m the prior year.

Its overall advertising revenue also dropped by 5 per cent, which the group attributes to ‘weakness in the print advertising market’.

A breakdown of figures saw the Murdoch empire’s news operations swing a loss of almost US$400m from US$603 to US$213m in the full financial year, while its saving grace digital real estate earnings jumped from US$201m to US$344m.

“While global print ad trends remain challenging at our News and Information Services segment, we are continuing our aggressive growth in digital, which now accounts for 23 per cent of segment revenues, up from 19 per cent last year,” states News Corp.

[Related: News Corp shuts down seven papers]

Commenting on its top performing Aussie masthead The Australian, News Corp says ‘at News Australia, The Australian continues to post higher paid volume, thanks to digital’.

Unlike its publishing counterpart Fairfax which has signalled the end of weekday publishing following poor figures, News Corp makes no mention of offloading any print assets in its official results statement.

The media giant announced plans yesterday to revitalize print publishing with fresh paper stocks and content for its Leader Community News in Victoria.

News Corp also affirmed its trust in the newspaper industry after it purchased APN’s collection of regional titles for $36m last month.

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