Rupert Murdoch's News Corp reports global net loss of $1.4bn

Murdoch company remains upbeat, pointing to growing digital subscriber numbers

Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp (Reuters)

News Corp – owner of The Times and The Sun newspapers – has posted a net global loss of $1.4bn (£1.1bn) for the year.

The figure is twice that of last year’s figure of $643m.

The global publishing company owned by Rupert Murdoch said it remained positive about its position, claiming the financial results were skewed by accounting writedowns such as the consolidation of Foxtel and Fox Sports in Australia.

News Corp also owns The Sunday Times, the Wall Street Journal in the US and the global book publisher HarperCollins.

Robert Thomson, chief executive, said the group had gone through a year of “operational and transformational success” and pointed to revenue growth in its online real estate businesses such as realestate.com and its book publishing division.

“We also saw meaningful operational improvements at the news and information services segment led by higher digital paid subscribers and disciplined cost initiatives, notably in Australia,” he said in a statement on Friday.

He further highlighted the growth of digital paid subscribers to The Times and The Sunday Times, and hailed strong growth at the Wall Street Journal.

The group’s revenues totalled $9.01bn, up 11 per cent while earnings before tax and depreciation were $1.07bn, up by 21%.

“Digital real estate services continue to flourish,” said Mr Thomson. “HarperCollins success underscores the importance of intelligent editors and great writers in creating premium content. Algorithms are, as yet, unable to write empathetic, compelling books.”

Five years ago News Corp underwent a restructure that saw its entertainment assets siphoned into a different company from its publishing businesses.

“We are marking five years since our separation and are confident News Corp has a lustrous future, built on a strong digital and global foundation,” said Mr Thomson.