Charges due to the Australian and British press-related activities weighed once again on News Corp's accounts, so much so that the publishing group closed another quarter with a loss, the last of the 2017 financial year also filed in the red. The company that publishes the Wall Street Journal and The Sun, among others, recorded a loss attributable to its shareholders of $430 million in the three months to June 30 versus $89 million in the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share before special items were 11 cents, one more than analysts' estimates. In what is News Corp's fiscal fourth quarter, revenue fell 7% to $2,08 billion from $2,22 billion in the April-June 2016 period. Analysts had expected a result of $2,11 billion. .
In particular, the "News and information" division, the one that generates 60% of total turnover, saw a 10% drop in sales to 1,28 billion. The group explained the decline with the absence of 77 million dollars resulting from the additional week that had occurred in the same quarter of 2016. In this division advertising revenue fell 12% to $650 million due to print advertising performance but also an $8 million negative impact from currency fluctuations; newsstand and subscription sales fell by 9% to 511 million but if the quarter had had one more week and exchange rates had remained unchanged, the figure would have gone up by 1%. Compared to the total turnover of this division, 26% came from digital, i.e. 3% more than the previous year. In the reporting period, the Wall Street Journal counted 1,27 million daily active digital users against 948 12 months earlier.
