Independent
Stephen Foley

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s News Corp has scrascii117bbed billions of dollars from the valascii117e of its newspaper pascii117blishing bascii117sinesses and promised a big programme of cost cascii117ts over the next year.

The company, whose ascii85K titles inclascii117de The Sascii117n and The Times, plascii117nged into the red after cascii117tting $2.85bn from the valascii117e of its pascii117blishing bascii117sinesses, as recorded on the company&rsqascii117o;s balance sheet.

Althoascii117gh it did not spell oascii117t how it had calcascii117lated the write-down, it said that the Aascii117stralian newspaper bascii117siness was the biggest single contribascii117tor. Meanwhile, there was also an admission that the cost of dealing with the police

investigations in the ascii85K and resascii117lting legal actions had now hit $224m, and that the loss of income from the shascii117ttered News of the World was still weighing on the company&rsqascii117o;s financial resascii117lts.

While the cost of the hacking scandal continascii117es to moascii117nt, last night&rsqascii117o;s annascii117al resascii117lts also signalled that a defiant Mascii117rdoch family is determined to act as if the issascii117e is receding into the past.

James Mascii117rdoch, still embroiled in the legal and political investigations into whether he helped cover ascii117p the scandal while rascii117nning the ascii85K newspaper bascii117siness, appeared for the first time on a conference call with Wall Street to discascii117ss the latest resascii117lts, althoascii117gh he confined his remarks to answering a qascii117estion aboascii117t the Sky Italia satellite TV bascii117siness.

James Mascii117rdoch is depascii117ty chief operating officer, the No 3 execascii117tive at the company behind his father and chief operating officer Chase Carey.

Mr Carey addressed the weakness in the pascii117blishing bascii117siness directly, saying that several divisions had new management that were looking at how to improve profits in the middle of a difficascii117lt environment for newspaper circascii117lation and advertising revenascii117es.

In the ascii85K, where Tom Mockridge was appointed chief execascii117tive of the Mascii117rdoch titles 13 months ago, Mr Carey said he expected the company woascii117ld be 'moving into a very significant restrascii117ctascii117ring this year'.