News Corp. Suffers Staggering $6.4 Billion Loss
source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/05/news-corp-suffers-stagger_n_164463.html
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LOS ANGELES — News Corp., the global media giant controlled by Rupert Murdoch, said Thursday it lost $6.4 billion in its most recent quarter because of a massive write-down in the value of its assets.
The New York-based company, which owns The Wall Street Journal and the Fox broadcast network, also forecast a 30 percent drop in operating profits for the fiscal year to June from a year ago, when it earned $5.13 billion.
The forecast was a sharp downgrade from November when it expected "low to mid-teens" percentage drop for the year.
News Corp. shares shed 55 cents, or 7.4 percent, to $6.90 in after-hours trading.
Analyst David Bank of RBC Capital Markets said Wall Street was expecting the bad news given similar announcements by other media companies.
"It was bad, but it wasn't out of left field," Bank said. "It was probably more of a confirmation of what we expected rather than a new set of information."
Murdoch, the chief executive who controls more than a third of the company's shares, blamed the bleak outlook on falling advertising revenue and the impact of weak consumer sentiment on DVD and book sales.
The New York-based company, which owns The Wall Street Journal and the Fox broadcast network, also forecast a 30 percent drop in operating profits for the fiscal year to June from a year ago, when it earned $5.13 billion.
The forecast was a sharp downgrade from November when it expected "low to mid-teens" percentage drop for the year.
News Corp. shares shed 55 cents, or 7.4 percent, to $6.90 in after-hours trading.
Analyst David Bank of RBC Capital Markets said Wall Street was expecting the bad news given similar announcements by other media companies.
"It was bad, but it wasn't out of left field," Bank said. "It was probably more of a confirmation of what we expected rather than a new set of information."
Murdoch, the chief executive who controls more than a third of the company's shares, blamed the bleak outlook on falling advertising revenue and the impact of weak consumer sentiment on DVD and book sales.
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