News Corp profits plummet but $245m cost cuts drive earnings boost
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has cut more than $US160 million ($245 million) in costs over the past six months, delivering above-expected earnings despite a sharp 75 per cent fall in net profits.
For the 2023 financial year, the company reported $US9.9 billion in revenue – down 5 per cent, $US1.4 billion in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation – down 15 per cent, and net income of $US187 million – down from its record $US760 million in 2022.
The listed company, which owns REA Group, Foxtel and newspapers including The Australian, the UK’s The Times, and the Wall Street Journal, expects generative artificial intelligence will mean new revenue streams and is in “active negotiations” with AI and tech companies for payment, chief executive Robert Thomson said.
News Corp global CEO Robert Thomson.
“Our content is being harvested and scraped and otherwise ingested to train AI engines,” he said.
“The leaders of the largest digital companies are clearly sincerely focused on the issue… we are actively, individually engaged in fruitful discussions. I can’t be more specific at this moment. But we see a positive financial result through consensual negotiations, not through litigation.”
Mr Thomson described the past year as one with challenging macro conditions, supply chain pressures and foreign exchange fluctuations, but he said there were green shoots emerging. More than half of News Corp’s 2023 revenues came from digital assets for the first time.
“Our results showed marked improvement in the second half, so with inflation abating, interest rates plateauing and incipient signs of stability in the housing market, we have sound reasons for optimism about the coming quarters,” he said. The results were
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