News Corp, the sprawling media conglomerate
headed by Rupert Murdoch, reported a 6.4-billion-dollar second- quarter loss
Thursday from a massive write down of its media assets combined with lower
profits at its movie and television units, dpa
reported.
The company also slashed its fiscal 2009 outlook, saying that its operating
income would be 30 per cent lower than in 2008 because of the dire economic
environment.
"Our results for the quarter are a direct reflection of the grim economic
climate," said Murdoch in a statement. "The downturn is more severe
and likely longer lasting than previously thought. The company is implementing
"rigorous cost-cutting," including "major" expense
reductions at local TVs, he added.
News Corp said it had taken an 8.4 billion dollar charge on the declining value
of its media assets that accounted for most of the quarterly losss. Sales were
also sharply down, coming in at 7.87 billion dollars, an 8.4 per cent drop over
last year's figures.
The dismal figures sent the company's shares down some 5 per cent in after
hours trading. They came after the company's main competitors, Disney and Time
Warner, also posted disappointing results that underlined how deeply the global
recession has hit media companies.
Murdoch said that the company was trying to aggressively cut costs as the
advertising environment dried up. "The big thing that really is killing us
is the lack of automobile advertising," Murdoch said.
That helped explain a 19 per cent drop in local television ad sales, but it was
the general economic malaise that the sent News Corps film profits down 72 per
cent on declining film sales.
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