WASHINGTON - MR RUPERT Murdoch's News Corp on Wednesday reported a 30 per cent drop in quarterly net profit on losses at a German television station and declining television advertising revenue.
News Corp said in a statement that net profit in the first quarter of its fiscal year declined 29.6 per cent compared with the same period last year, to US$515 million (S$764 million). Earnings per share fell to 20 cents from 23 cents last year.
The absence of a major film from its movie studio, Twentieth Century Fox, impacted the bottom line in the quarter along with US$447 million in losses at its German television station Premiere.
'Our cable group continues to perform extremely well', Mr Murdoch said in a statement.
'SKY Italia remains a top performer,' the company's chairman said of the Italian television company which added more soccer programming and notched up operating income of US$165 million.
'Fox Interactive Media is seeing revenue growth even in the face of negative macroeconomic conditions around the globe, including weak advertising markets,' Mr Murdoch added. 'All media companies are being tested and the year ahead will be difficult.'
Revenue at Fox Interactive Media grew 17 per cent on advertising and search revenue growth at social network MySpace, News Corp said.
It said operating income in its Cable Network Programming division, which includes Fox News Channel, FX and the Big Ten Network, rose 31 per cent to US$379 million in the quarter. Fox News Channel increased operating income by 27 per cent.
Operating income in the filmed entertainment segment was US$251 million compared with US$362 million in the same period last year, when Twentieth Century Fox released The Simpsons Movie and Live Free or Die Hard.
Operating income in the television segment was US$54 million, a decline of US$129 million from the same period last year.
News Corp said improved results from MyNetworkTV were offset by lower contributions from the Fox Television Stations and STAR. Operating income for Fox Television Stations declined 48 per cent from the same period a year ago.
A weakening of the advertising market and competition from the Olympics, hosted by rival NBC, were slightly offset by increased political advertising revenues, according to the company.
It said newspapers and information services reported first quarter operating income of US$134 million, up US$41 million from the same period a year ago.
News Corp's share price lost 9.65 per cent in New York on Wednesday to US$9.93. -- AFP
