News Corp profits beat estimates despite advertising fall
Rupert Murdoch still controls most of News Corp Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has posted better-than-expected profits, even as advertising revenues continue to fall at its newspaper businesses.
Net income was $151m (£93m) in the quarter ending in December, which was higher than analyst estimates.
Revenue fell by 4% to $2.24bn, largely due to falling sales at the media company's Australian newspapers.
News Corp's chief executive Robert Thompson described the advertising market as "challenging".
"We are continuing to be disciplined on costs, while making opportunistic investments that will extend our revenue reach," he said in a statement.
"The digital transformation is certainly underway, as the acquisition of Storyful and the robust growth in digital sales at HarperCollins attest."
The media company, which owns a stable of newspaper titles such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, has been trying to monetise its online offerings, which draw lower advertising rates than its print publications.
Media empire
News Corp is one of the world's biggest media conglomerates News Corp split its publishing and entertainment divisions into two separate companies in June last year.
Aside from book publisher HarperCollins, the company also owns the Times and the Sun newspapers in the UK and several titles in Australia.
Last December, it bought Dublin-based social media news agency Storyful for $25m.
Under its entertainment arm, News Corp owns the 21st Century Fox film studio and television channels.
However, news publishing comprises more than 70% of the company's revenue.
Shares of News Corp rose by 1.4% in after-hours US trading following its earnings announcement.
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