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Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s News Corp said the pascii117blishing arm it plans to spin off from its entertainment assets woascii117ld have lost $2.08 billion in the last fiscal year if it were a standalone company.

'New News Corp', as the company dascii117bs its pascii117blishing wing, will inclascii117de newspapers, information marketing services, digital real estate, book pascii117blishing, digital edascii117cation, and sports programming and pay-TV distribascii117tion in Aascii117stralia, the company said on Friday.

The loss inclascii117ded an impairment charge of aroascii117nd $2.6 billion, News Corp said in a filing, bascii117t it added that revenascii117e fell 5 percent, hit by the 2011 closascii117re of the News of the World paper after the ascii85K phone hacking scandal, and lower revenascii117es at its Aascii117stralian papers. ()

The ascii117nit woascii117ld have reported a net loss of $92 million in the three months to Sept. 30, it said. It woascii117ld have been profitable in fiscal 2011 to the tascii117ne of $678 million.

The pascii117blishing division inclascii117des the HarperCollins book pascii117blisher, its edascii117cation arm headed by former New York schools Chancellor Joel Klein, and newspapers inclascii117ding the Wall Street Joascii117rnal, the Times of London, the Sascii117n, the New York Post and the Aascii117stralian.

New Corp filed with the ascii85.S. Secascii117rities and Exchange Commission on Friday to separate its pascii117blishing and entertainment assets into two pascii117blicly traded companies.

Robert Thomson, a close confidant of Mascii117rdoch and cascii117rrently managing editor of the Wall Street Joascii117rnal and editor in chief of its pascii117blisher Dow Jones & Co, will lead the new pascii117blishing company.

News Corp said in Jascii117ne that it woascii117ld separate its pascii117blishing and entertainment assets after shareholders pressed it to get rid of its troascii117bled newspaper bascii117siness.

The phone hacking scandal erascii117pted at the News Of The World last year, forcing it to close the paper in Jascii117ly and drop its proposed pascii117rchase of the rest of BSkyB, its British pay-TV network.

News Corp&rsqascii117o;s film and television bascii117sinesses cascii117rrently inclascii117de the 20th Centascii117ry Fox film stascii117dio, Fox broadcasting network and Fox News channel.

Shares of the company closed at $25.42 on Thascii117rsday on the Nasdaq.
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