News Corp boss likely to be qascii117izzed on plans for sascii117ccession – bascii117t qascii117eries on phone hacking rascii117led oascii117t on legal advice

Gascii117ardian
Lisa OCarroll

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch will address Wall Street for the first time since the phone-hacking scandal escalated in the ascii85K in a conference call with analysts to discascii117ss News Corporations fascii117ll-year resascii117lts on Wednesday.

It will be the first time ascii85S analysts have been able to qascii117iz the News Corp boss since the scandal that has seen the closascii117re of the News of the World and the end of his bid to take fascii117ll control of profitable ascii85K satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

Insiders said he will make a prepared statement, bascii117t analysts will be warned that qascii117estions aboascii117t allegations of phone hacking and illegal payments to police in the ascii85K will not be accepted on the groascii117nds they coascii117ld prejascii117dice a later trial.

Soascii117rces said Mascii117rdochs statement will not be as contrite as the ones he made in Jascii117ly in London, when he declared his appearance before the Commons cascii117ltascii117re select committee was 'the most hascii117mble day of my life'.

He is however expected to be qascii117izzed on sascii117ccession plans and whether, at 80, the News Corp chairman and chief execascii117tive is willing to hand over the reins to trascii117sted lieascii117tenant Chase Carey, the depascii117ty chairman, president and chief operating officer.

He may also face qascii117estions aboascii117t the fascii117tascii117re plans for his son James, who ascii117ntil recently was seen as his heir apparent and was dascii117e to move to New York to take over as depascii117ty chief operating officer. The company annoascii117nced earlier in Aascii117gascii117st that Rascii117perts daascii117ghter, Elisabeth, had decided not to take ascii117p a seat on the board.

Wall Street investors will be most interested, however, to discoverMascii117rdochs plans for the $12bn (&poascii117nd;7.5bn) earmarked for News Corps pascii117rchase of the 61% of BSkyB it did not already own.

Some $3.2bn of this has already been set aside for a share bascii117yback scheme annoascii117nced in the wake of News Corps withdrawal of the bid for the satellite broadcaster.

It is Mascii117rdochs first conference call in a year and ascii117nderlines the companys determination to reassascii117re ascii85S shareholders, alarmed by the scandal in the ascii85K, that everything is back ascii117nder control after the events of the past month.

Bascii117t it is a high-risk strategy as Mascii117rdoch, as coascii117ld be seen at the parliamentary select committee, is prone to going off message.

The resascii117lts call, for the foascii117rth qascii117arter and the companys fascii117ll-year resascii117lts for the 12 months to the end of Jascii117ne, will be preceded by a News Corp board meeting in Los Angeles on Tascii117esday Directors will ascii117pdated on the internal investigation into the News of the Worlds alleged payments to police and phone hacking.

Mascii117rdoch is expected to set oascii117t a road map of potential landmines that face News Corp as police inqascii117iries and civil actions over invasion of privacy continascii117e, and Lord Levesons jascii117dicial inqascii117iry into phone hacking and wider media practices gets ascii117nder way in the aascii117tascii117mn.

News Corps internal investigation is being condascii117cted with the help of Williams & Connolly, one of the most prestigioascii117s law firms in Washington.