Murdoch Reports 44% Drop in Profit

Pummeled by a worldwide TV and newspaper advertising slowdown, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. reported its fiscal first-quarter operating profit fell 44%.

Murdoch said News Corp. “lost $100 million in ad revenue in just one week following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.” The News Corp. chairman also said he doesn’t expect advertising sales to improve before mid-2002.

News Corp.’s profit was $83 million, or 6 cents per American depositary receipt, excluding one-time items, for its first fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30. In the year-ago period, it earned $149 million, or 14 cents. Revenue rose to $3.40 billion from $3.24 billion.

Net income was $73 million when special charges were included. In the year-earlier period, News Corp. lost $268 million due to a non-cash charge of $417 million stemming from the industrywide adoption of new film-accounting standards in which studios book marketing expenses earlier.

The Australian company’s ADRs--securities that trade in the U.S. to allow investors to buy stock in a foreign company--fell 5 cents a share to close at $27.70 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.