News Corp reported a 6% fall in global revenue to $US2.48 billion for the second quarter.
Net income was $US103 million compared to $119 million in the prior year.
CEO Robert Thomson says the results were affected by a sluggish Australian economy, uncharacteristic softness in book publishing, and foreign exchange fluctuations.
"We expect improvement in the second half as real estate markets show signs of gradual recovery, Dow Jones benefits from new content licensing arrangements and higher digital subscribers, and HarperCollins capitalises on an exciting slate of new releases," he says.
Consumer subscriptions reached a record 3.5 million, including 2 million digital-only subscribers at The Wall Street Journal.
Thomson says News is seeing significant progress in a long battle for equitable treatment from the dominant tech platforms.
"Our deals with Apple and Facebook are beginning to yield financial dividends," he says.
The 6% fall in second quarter total revenue reflects a $50 million, or 2%, negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations.
The rest of the decline was due to a difficult prior year comparison at book publishing, lower subscription revenues at Foxtel, lower print-related advertising revenues and continued pressure at REA Group due to challenges in the Australian housing market.
News Corp reported Foxtel revenue down by US$61 million to US$501 million, or 11%, compared to the same three months last year.
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