While Reporting Robust Profit, Murdoch Vows to Stay Head of News Corp.

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

While defending his company as it faces accusations of widespread phone hacking in Britain, Rupert Murdoch insisted on Wednesday that he had the backing of News Corporation’s board and would stay on as its chief executive for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, his company reported a drop in fourth-quarter profit but a gain for the year.

Buoyed by strong advertising growth at its television division, particularly from the broadcast of Super Bowl XLV on Fox, News Corporation said its net income from April through June was $683 million, down from $875 million a year earlier. The otherwise strong results were sapped by a $254 million loss on Myspace, the social networking site, which the company sold for just $35 million in June, a small fraction of the $580 million it paid for the site six years ago.

For the full fiscal year, which ended June 30, News Corporation earned $2.7 billion, up from $2.5 billion the year before.

“We have the most robust balance sheet in our history,” Mr. Murdoch declared in a conference call with financial analysts and reporters that drew considerably more attention than usual because Mr. Murdoch had not spoken publicly since his testimony before the British Parliament last month. The earnings report — which showed growth across News Corporation’s vast holdings in film, television, publishing and satellite broadcasting — was a testament to the company’s size and diversity.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/business/while-reporting-robust-profit-murdoch-vows-to-stay-head-of-news-corp.html

[kimsarah]

1. Thank goodness

Mr. Murdoch is safe.

[Hubert Flottz]

2. That's because people with as much money as Rupert has, can

simply ignore the law and get away with it.